Who says Death is the End?
by Yukie666
Summary: Ichigo finally graduated, after three long years of hell. Now it was time to make a decision that would effect him and his friends for the rest of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. If I did, all the characters relationships with one another would be much clearer. I do own a bottle of bleach though, but don't use it. Remember kids bleach eventually eats through your clothes, use bluing for your whitening needs.

"Who Says Death is the End?"

The silence was deafening. Sleep which should have come to him easily, yet seemed to have slip farther and farther away. It didn't help the situation with all the thoughts he was having. Had Ichigo had been a normal 18 year old boy he would have the usual thoughts on his mind. Was he going to go to college? How was he going to afford it, his father was a doctor and owned a clinic, but they weren't exactly rich. Had be been born an Ishida as Uryuu has he probably could of just bought himself into any college. That would of been nice he mused to himself in the blackness. He imagined what it would of been like to be normal, just being some nameless punk, some tramp of a girl hanging off of him. Only attracted to him for his "bad boy" attitude. It seemed pleasing to think of it but he knew not to let himself think about it for too long, he would end up getting depressed, something he didn't want to deal with.

Ichigo was far from normal. He was a shinigami, a being that in a way controlled death. He didn't kill as most would think when they heard what he was. He simply controlled the flow of spirits, be it those who were freshly departed, to those who lingered. He also had to eliminate bad spirits, the hollows as they were termed. Beings that fed on spirits and and spiritual energy. He sure as hell didn't ask for the job, but had to take control of his fate on a night three years ago. There was no other option to it, it was a life or death situation. The memory never faded, he could remember the events clearly, even after all this time.

_It was a normal day, well as normal as they come for Ichigo. Being someone who could see ghosts, anything that wasn't to weird could be looked at as normal for him. He knocked a few punks around, not that they didn't deserve it. They disturbed a memorial left for a young girl who passed away in a car accident a week earlier. he couldn't tolerate how careless they were, not even stopping. The ghost of the poor girl standing next the the spilled flowers didn't help the situation. Ichigo couldn't stand seeing a girl cry be it a live or a dead one. As one of the fools got close to him, he stretched his arm out. Clotheslining the idiot, his friends went a little bit farther before they noticed the absence of their buddy. The sounds of someone gagging drew their attention.  
_

_  
"Yo, the hell you doing to lil' Yama!?" the one closest to Ichigo yelled.  
_

_  
Ichigo who just stood there, foot placed firmly on "Lil" Yama's chest, trademark scowl on his face. Just stood there._

_  
"My god, will you look at his hair, he's a friggin carrot. You got a death wish punk?"_

_Ichigo didn't give him a chance to continue. Quickly booting the guy in the face._

___"He just got Toshii, the hell this kid doing?"_

_____Ichigo calmly composed himself, reaching down and picking up Yama._

_______"Ok boys and girls, were going to have a pop quiz," punching Yama in the face when he said pop, "This is going to be a short quiz, so please answer quickly."_

_________He threw the man at his buddies._

___________"Question number one," he gestured to the small vase broken on the curb, then pointing to a guy with a goatee "What is that?"_

_____________The man looked at him for a second, looked at the broken object, then back to ichigo before answering._

_______________"Flowers left for the kid that died here the other day?"_

_________________Ichigo smiled then positioned himself for what would come. He gave the man a roundhouse kick that would of left Chuck Norris impressed._

___________________"Bingo! You my boy are correct," Ichigo said as the man literally skid to a stop next to his friends, "Time for question two, why is it knocked down"_

_____________________Yama, who had finally gained enough air picked himself up, and answered that orange haired guy in front of him._

_______________________"We knocked it down when we were skateboarding. What does it matter? It's just for some dead kid, not like it matters."_

_________________________Ichigo looked to his side, the poor girl was crying now. Tears flowing down her face, leaving trails of wetness. This pained Ichigo deeply. These goddamn idiots insulted this poor kid directly. Even though they couldn't see her, he knew that was no excuse. These assholes had to pay for what they have done._

___________________________"Wrong answer jerkoffs!" he roared, he slowly cracked his knuckles already thinking of what he planned for them, "Are y'all ready for your punishment?"_

_____________________________The men didn't answer. They just stared at the pissed off teenager as he slowly advanced upon them. Ichigo tilted his head to the side, forcing his neck to crack. The men started to shudder, they knew what was coming. Ichigo jumped on the first guy he got close to. A short time later, he effectively beat the hell out of the lot of them. The skater punks laid around him bruised and in the case of Toshi, bleeding a bit. Ichigo dusted himself off._

_______________________________"Ok kids, this is what we learned today. We learned that it isn't right to be disrespectful to the dead, we also learned it isn't a good thing to be assholes about it."_

_________________________________The men looked up to the boy and nodded._

___________________________________"You guys going to pull some shit like this again?"_

_____________________________________They shook their heads in unison, all fearing the teenager's anger._

_______________________________________"You idiots get the hell out of here now, pull a stunt like this and you'll leave here with more than some bruises,"_

_________________________________________They all scrambled to get away but not quick enough to prevent Ichigo from giving one a swift boot in the ass. Causing the man to stumble._

___________________________________________"Thanks oni-san, you don't know how much it means for me to have someone stand up for me," said the girl._

_____________________________________________"Aw hell, it wasn't nothing," he patted the girls head, "I'll bring you some fresh flowers tomorrow, I got to head home or that old bastard of a father is going to lock me out"_

_______________________________________________This comment caused the girl to giggle a little bit. Ichigo threw her a little wave and started heading for home. While he made it before he was locked out, his father felt the need to give him a surpise kick as soon as he came through the door._

_________________________________________________"Your late boy, where the hell have ya been? Yuzu just put dinner on the table," Isshin commented as he put Ichigo into a headlock, "I bet it was a girl. Was she good? I bet she was for you to be this late. Hell, your not even struggling like you normally would. This girl got an older sister with a rack?"_

___________________________________________________Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. he dealt with too much shit today. Summoning all the strength he could, he broke the hold his father had on him, reversing it, before throwing the old fool into the wall._

_____________________________________________________"Good my boy, good. Shows there's some fight left in ya yet. You ready for round 2? Get ready boyyyy..."_

_______________________________________________________Ichigo didn't give him a chance to finish. Booting him in the face before he made his way into the kitchen. There his two sisters sat at the table, quietly munching on dinner. Yuzu smiled at him, Karin simply nodded to him._

_________________________________________________________"ichi-nii aren't you going to eat?"_

___________________________________________________________Ichigo just shook his head._

_____________________________________________________________"Save a bit for me Yuzu, I'll eat later"_

_______________________________________________________________"Oi, Ichigo looks like you got yourself a friend," Karin said, nodded to the area behind Ichigo._

_________________________________________________________________Ichigo turned quickly, coming face to face with a business man._

___________________________________________________________________"Hi," the ghost said simply._

_____________________________________________________________________All Ichigo could do was sigh to himself. He didn't need this crap right now. He needed sleep, he needed the softness of his mattress. He opened his door and just flopped down on his bed. He didn't care about his new found"friend", he didn't care about anything right now. He just wanted some rest. Rest that didn't come for him. He turned over noticing something black flickering through the air. As he focused on it he saw it was a butterfly, one black as night._

_______________________________________________________________________"The hell is that doing here?" he said out loud._

_________________________________________________________________________The butterfly was followed by a young women. She was dressed in black robes and carried a sword on her side. Ichigo just sat there gaping. The woman paid no attention to him._

___________________________________________________________________________"It's close," she said simply._

_____________________________________________________________________________"What's close? The hell does that mean?" Ichigo kicked the girl in the butt, knocking her down._

_______________________________________________________________________________"You can see me? You can touch me?" the girl said as she just looked at Ichigo._

_________________________________________________________________________________"Who the hell are you?"_

___________________________________________________________________________________"Binding art Thirty-five!"_

_____________________________________________________________________________________Ichigo felt his arms become heavy, falling to his sides. No matter what he tried, he couldn't move._

_______________________________________________________________________________________"Now that your settled down, I'm going to explain what I am and what I do."_

_________________________________________________________________________________________All Ichigo could do was glare and listen to this girl. She explained she was something called a Shinigami, a death god of sorts. She went through the whole shindig, explaining she was after a hollow. It was then that Ichigo heard a roar. It wasn't like anything he heard before, it just sounded plain unnatural._

___________________________________________________________________________________________"Girl what was that?"_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________"What is what?" she just looked at him._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________"Your telling me you can't hear that?"_

_________________________________________________________________________________________________It was then that Yuzu came through his door. She was covered in blood._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________"Ichi-nii run."_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________"Yuzu what happened?!" Ichigo screamed, trying to force himself to move._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________"Something attacked dad, we couldn't see it. His back just seemed to blow out"_

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Right then a roar let out, closer then ever._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________"The hollow!" the raven haired girl said, "It has to be, but why couldn't I sense it?"_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ichigo was having none of this. He managed to get himself to his feet. He flexed his arms, trying to break lose whatever was holding his arms down._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________"What are you doing, your going to hurt yourself trying to break the bindings!" the shinigami screamed at him._

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"I don't give a shit, someone has to save my family. You standing there, doing nothing, sure as hell isn't helping the situation."_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ichigo strained harder, he could hear things starting to rip and give. After a few more moments he was finely free. He didn't waste a moment. He ran downstairs, his father's still form lying at the base of the stairs. There was a huge hole in the wall. He grabbed the first thing he could use as a weapon. Luckily Karin was a bit of a tomboy, even so far as playing baseball. There was equipment lying all over the place. Ichigo grabbed a baseball bat, the ash felt nice in his hands, it just felt right. If now wasn't such a bad time, he'd probably play a few games of ball with his sisters and old man. Tightening his grip on the handle he rushed outside. There stood the most ugly thing he has ever seen. It must of stood 15 feet tall. It looked like an ape, minus the fur and wore a mask  
of what appeared to be made of bone. Ichigo noticed it was carrying something in it hand. What he saw horrified him. It was holding Karin._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Let go of her you ugly bastard!"_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It turned and looked at him, raising his head in the air and appeared to sniff._

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Hmm, it was you I smelled. It was you that was drawing me," the creature said._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ichigo didn't think of what it said. He just ran and swung as hard as he could. The bat made contact with the thing's arm. Resulting in him getting swatted away like a fly._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Bastard," he said though his gritted teeth._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As he prepared for a second strike he noticed a flash. A moment later blood spurted from the hollow's arm. It threw Karin towards Ichigo. He caught her with ease, then looked back at the beast. He saw the small women fighting it. She seemed to be struggling with it. It soon had the upper hand on the poor girl. This woman didn't know his name but she was fighting for him, for his family's sake. Right then Ichigo made a decision, if she was going to fight for him and possibly die, then he could return the favor. He prepared himself for the assault. After taking a deep breath he charged. He didn't know if he could do anything, but he couldn't just rest on his laurels. He did do one thing, he attracted the hollows attention. It charged him, jaws wide open. It planned to bite, probably in half if you took it's size into account. Ichigo braced for the inevitable pain, closing his eyes. He waited for the end, it never came. When Ichigo opened his eyes, he saw the hollow right in front of him. It was being held back by the shinigami. She took the attack, protecting him. The hollow biting her chest.  
_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Anyone ever tell you that your an idiot?" the girl said, coughing up a little bit of blood as she spoke.  
_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With one deft motion she swung her sword, cutting a bit of the hollows mask off. It seemed to inflict enough pain to distract it. It let go of the girl and stumbled away, screaming in pain. Ichigo caught the girl as she slumped forward. She looked up to him, seeming to stare into his soul with those cobalt orbs she called eyes.  
_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
"I have something you need to know," she said, breathing a bit erratically._

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"What?" was all Ichigo could say._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"I can't defeat the hollow as I am now. I'm too wounded to fight effectively."_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"What?!"_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"There is a way, it's a small chance but if it works, your family will be saved."_

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Tell me how Shinigami."_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Rukia Kuchiki," she said simply._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"What?"_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"My name's Rukia."_

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Ichigo Kurosaki. Now tell me what I need to do."_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________She looked at him, then raised her sword._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Take this and pierce your heart. When you do this, I'll loan you a portion of my power. With it you should be able to defeat the hollow."_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ichigo thought for a second before grabbing the blade. With one quick motion he impaled himself. With that he felt a power come forth from within._

Ichigo felt his chest where he had pierced his heart. As he moved his hand, his fingers glided across the numerable scars that he acquired over the past three years. As he thought about it he came to the realization, that if he was given a chance to do something different with his life, he would of still made the same choices. He met and grew close with many people. While his friends lives were changed with his choice. None of them were truly harmed and none would of held Ichigo at fault even if they had been.

Soon Ichigo could feel the signs of sleep coming to him. His eyelids felt weighted, his body felt like it was made of sand. He knew he needed to get some sleep. He had a life changing decision to make when he got up. He needed to have a clear mind to go through this. Ichigo let out a sigh, grabbed a little more of his blanket before rolling over in his bed. Soon sleep came to the young shinigame, with it came dreams of the past. Tomorrow was a big day for him.

A/N: Heh, my first step into the world of fanfics in a long time. First one to actually leave the safety of my hard drive. Please review, I need some opinions and ideas on how to continue with this. Anything would be much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own Bleach

"Oh, Ichigo, why are you making me wait?" Tatsuki purred into Ichigo's ear.

Tatsuki laid in his bed, beckoning to come closer. Ichigo stood there dumbfounded, getting ready to say something when another voice joined in.

"Ichigo, you don't want that butch girl. You want a nice, petite girl like me. Imagine what I could do being this small?"

Ichigo turned around to come to face to face with a girl with eyes of deep blue. She winked at him, then placed her delicate hands on the back of his neck. Ichigo shivered at her touch. While this was nice, it didn't last long. Tatsuki heard the comment. She got up from the bed, an unnatural fire burning in her eyes.

"Who you calling butch, you loli looking little bitch!" Tatsuki roared.

"How dare you. I'm just a petite woman from a prominent family. Forgive me that I don't own a pair of testicles, that you must have by the looks of that chest."

Tatsuki stopped for a second, glancing down at herself. While she was no buxom girl like Orihime, she was far from being masculine. She looked at Rukia, staring daggers.

"Oh it's on now, girl." Tatsuki said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Bring it butchy."

With a yell, Tatsuki charged the black haired girl. She didn't plan to throw punches. She was going to get a hold of a limb and snap it, hopefully taking it with her. As the pair of girls fought, Ichigo just stood there. He heard from Keigo that a cat fight was a marvelous thing, he never thought he'd be witness to one. What Keigo had said was true he mused, it was indeed a beautiful thing. The sound of ripping cloth snapped him back to reality. The two girls were down to their underwear. With this, he realized something. This had to be a dream, an awesome one but a dream nonetheless. He knew Tatsuki for well over ten years, and not once did she show any sign of attraction to Ichigo. Rukia was a different case, he knew the shinigami for only three years but he knew in his heart that she only viewed him as a dear friend. Knowing this was a dream, he came to a decision. He was going to enjoy it to his heart's content.

"Ladies." he piped in, trying to get over the grunts and screams of the fight in front him, but to no avail. "For christ sakes, stop it you two!"

Tatsuki paused, but didn't let go of Rukia's hair. Rukia still had a death grip on the bra strap of her opponent.

"Now if I may have a moment of your time," the girls just stared at Ichigo, "I think we can come to a sort of agreement."

"What you have in mind, lover boy?"

Ichigo smirked at this last remark, and started grinning.

"While there is two of you and but one of me. I'm sure I can handle both of you."

Rukia and Tatsuki stared at Ichigo then at each other.

"Hmm, sounds good in discussion, but will it be in practice?" Tatsuki asked Rukia.

"Shall we take turns?"

"Sounds good how do we settle who has first shot at him?" Rukia asked.

"Janken." Tatsuki said simply. Rukia nodded at this.

Ichigo just stood there as the girls got ready.

"Jan"

"Ken"

"Pon!"

Tatsuki threw down her hand, she made rock. Looking over to Rukia, she could see that Rukia did the same. It continued like this for a few more times.

"This isn't going to work, were even in this game," Rukia said with a sigh.

"I have to agree, but I got an idea."

Tatsuki gestured to Rukia and they formed a two man huddle. Ichigo wasn't sure what to make of this, but luckily for him. Nothing bad was going to happen to him. He hoped.

"We've come to a decision. To hell with taking turns. Both of us our going to have our way with you."

"You can't be serious..."

The girls didn't give Ichigo a chance to finish his sentence. Tatsuki grabbed the waste of his pajama pants and dragged him between the two girls. Ichigo liked this idea, hell liked didn't sound strong enough for what he was feeling. He loved this idea. He hoped he didn't have to wake up for a good long time.

"**Oi, Ichigo, time to get your lazy ass up and start the day!"** a voice came from all around him.

"Not now old man, just give me a another few minutes, at least let me see them topless." he said to himself.

**Bang!!!**

"Damn it."

**Bang!! Boom!! The sounds of splintering wood assaulted him.**

"You ready Ichigo?" Tatsuki said as she was getting ready to remove her bra.

"Your going to feel everlasting pleasure Ichigo," Rukia said in the sweetest voice possible.

"**Ichigo!" the voice was now closer than ever.**

Ichigo snapped awake just in time to see his father's elbow coming at his head. He dodged it with ease but he wasn't ready for the backhand that followed.

"Wakey, wakey my boy," Isshin said, preparing for mortal combat, "Having a kinky dream I see."

"The hell you talking about, old man," Ichigo said, rubbing his stinging cheek.

Karin who had been walking past his room, peeked her head in, wondering what all the noise was.

"Hey Ichigo, nice tent," she said simply.

"Huh?"

She gestured to his pajamas. Ichigo looked down to see what she was talking about. When he saw what she talking about, he couldn't do anything but blush furiously. This left him with an opening. An opening Isshin used to his advantage. He quickly grabbed Ichigo, using a shoulder throw to send him into the wall.

"My lil' Ichigo's growing up. Masaki would be so proud to see you today," he said with a tear coming to his left eye.

Ichigo couldn't really respond. Still in a daze from the collision his head meeting the wall. When he finally gathered enough of his senses, he picked himself up. Veins throbbing in his temples. He swore to himself silently, then eyed his father.

"I'm going to get you back you cocky bastard."

"Really?" his old man said with a smirk, "Think you can do it boy?"

Ichigo didn't reply. He tackled his father, managing to get a hold of his right arm.

"I'm really going to break it if you don't give up, fool."

Karin who was still watching this fiasco, sighed and walked away.

"What a pair of idiots," she muttered as she walked downstairs.

"OK, OK! I give up!"

Isshin was tapping the floor with his free hand, making the universal sign of giving up.

"We got to talk later old man. There's something we need to discuss."

"After breakfast boy. If we don't hurry Karin is going to eat our share."

Ichigo actually agreed with him for once. He got up off his father and made his way to the hall. He paused when he came to his door, noting the jam was all but gone.

"Did you really felt the need to bust my door?" he asked his father.

"Well you didn't answer when I called for you. For all I knew you could have been dead. That or you had some honey in there. I couldn't deal with the suspense," Isshin said with a matter-of-factly tone in his voice.

"Well I'm sure as hell not fixing it again."

"Meh, I'll patch it up later."

Breakfast wasn't anything too extraordinary. Just a simple meal of eggs with sausage. All was quiet as everyone ate their meals. Karin and Yuzu ate quickly, they mentioned plans of hitting up the mall and getting some new summer clothes. Ichigo smiled at this. He wasn't the only one who changed in these three years. His sisters had become beautiful young women. He had overheard them talking about boys, typical teenager stuff. He knew Yuzu had a thing for Jinta over at ole' hat-and-clogs shop, while Yuzu liked Chad. He wasn't quite sure how to look at that. Chad had been a friend of Ichigo's for years, and a comrade in battles for about as long as well. Ichigo knew he was a good guy, and if Karin liked him, he wasn't going to stop her. He finished his meal quickly, excusing himself. As he took his dishes to the kitchen, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"When your done, meet me in my office if ya want to talk."

Ichigo looked at his father, for once in his life he looked serious. He didn't think the old bird had it in him to actually be father-like. Isshin looked at his son for a moment longer before waving and heading over to the clinic. It took Ichigo a few minutes to clean and dry his dishes. He put the cloth up and made his way over to the clinic side of his home. While he had grew up in this place for years, he still didn't like the clinic. It was too clean, too sterile. It just seemed unnatural. He let out a sigh, one of many that would occur today.

While the clinic was too clean, his father's office could be thought of too homey. It was the dead opposite of everything outside the door. It was well furnished. A couple chairs, both of which seemed to be over stuffed. A black sofa was placed. The rest of the office was done in a large range of woods and finishes.

"He's still a damn idiot, but you can't knock his taste in styling," Ichigo said to himself.

He didn't realize he wasn't alone till he felt the blow to the back of his head.

"Goddamn, ow," rubbing his head, he turned to face his attacker.

"You think I'm going to allow you to insult me in my 'temple' boy?" Isshin stated.

"Just once in my damn life, I'd like to have a day where I didn't get attacked by you."

"Then your life would be boring. You would have no excitement. You couldn't handle it."

Ichigo scowled at his father for a moment then sat on the sofa. His father noted the change in atmosphere and took a seat behind his desk.

"You said you had something you needed to talk about?"

Ichigo looked at his father, his brow crumpled in thought. His face relaxed for a moment as he spoke.

"Yeah, I've been offered a job." Ichigo sighed and continued, "I haven't decided if I'm going to go through with it or not though."

"What kind of a job? Your not going to be a gigolo are you?" Isshin couldn't resist a chance to poke at his son, "While I'm not sure what to make with this, be sure to be safe, make sure to use these."

He reached into a a desk drawer, picked up a box, and tossed it to Ichigo. Ichigo caught it with ease and read the box out loud.

"New improved material. Textured for her pleasure..."

Ichigo could almost feel the blood beat in his face. If he had a mirror he would of went toe to toe with a tomato in color. He threw the box back at his father, somehow managing to leave a mark on his forehead.

"Be serious for once in your life if it's possible," Ichigo's blush faded back into his trademark scowl, "I don't know what I should do, I need your advice."

Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Isshin watched this for a moment.

"OK, what kind of a job are you talking about?" He had an idea what his son was going to say but wanted to hear it from his mouth.

"I've been offered a position in Soul Society. The old man didn't mention what kind of position it would be, but said it would be worthy of someone like me. I'm worried that he'd place me in the 6th or 11th divisions."

"Zaraki still the captain of 11th division?" Isshin asked, looking dead serious.

"Yeah, he still has a thing for me you could say," Ichigo commented, "He still wants another shot at me. We may have fought side by side with against the Arrancar, but you know how he is."

Isshin nodded.

"Well what's so bad about the 6th division?"

"Rukia's brother is the captain."

"Eww, you thought about any of the other divisions?"

"Well there's the 10th division," Ichigo rubbed his chin, "Run by a runt but everyone there seems nice."

"Isn't the Fukataicho the one with the huge rack?" Isshin interrupted.

Ichigo threw his shoe at his dad, smacking him right in the middle of the face.

"Perv to the end aren't ya?" Ichigo shook his head and continued, "Yes she is, but I wouldn't focus on that, unlike you."

"Well what's the problem then?" Isshin asked.

"Yamamoto said it would be a permanent position. I could visit whenever I wished, but I would have to live in Soul Society."

Isshin thought for a moment. He was considering something, something deep to say, but in the end decided against it.

"Ichigo, I need you to be honest with me. Have you thought of what your going to do with yourself?"

"How do you mean?"

"You ever put any thought into what career you would like to follow?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't think i ever thought about it. I mean I'm still not sure how I actually managed to graduate."

"Well then I would take the old man up on his offer. Yamamoto may seem a bit old fashioned, but he had always put other peoples' well beings before himself. He'd take care of you."

Hearing this, Ichigo felt a lot better. He knew what his father said was the truth. He got up to leave but his father stopped him.

"Ichigo I got something I want to ask you, are you going to tell your sisters, or do you plan to leave your body here?" Isshin asked.

"I was going to tell them that I was leaving to go on a trip, wasn't sure if I was going to tell them that I might not come back to stay. Also kind of hard to just leave my body with Kon gone."

"I've been meaning to ask you what happened to him."

"Rukia took him back with her. Said he couldn't be trusted in the real world."

"Ha ha, she has that right," Isshin said laughing, "last time you left for an extended time, he was out using your body to try and pick up girls. Brought back more than a couple now that I think about it."

Ichigo could feel the vein on his right temple pulse in time with his heartbeat.

"I'm going to kill him," Ichigo muttered under his breath, "I'm going to pull his seams apart, remove his stuffing and refill him with garbage. Then I'm going to turn him into my own personal torch."

Ichigo kept this train of though going for a couple minutes until Isshin interrupted.

"Listen, while I'm sure Kon was no angel, I know he didn't do anything too graphic," Isshin gestured to himself, "I kept him on a pretty short leash and watched him like a hawk."

"You let him go pick up girls with my body!"

"But, he didn't do anything with them. Just hung out with them for a bit, only a couple dates."

"Anything else I should know about?" Ichigo asked.

"That's all I can think of at the moment."

Ichigo headed to the door, turning around to look at his father before he left.

"Thanks old man, not sure if I could do this without your advice."

"That's what a father does. He exists to help his children with their troubles."

Ichigo nodded and left. As he walked he thought to himself. Thought of how he was going to break it to his sisters. What was he going to tell them. What was he going to tell his friends?

They knew what he was, what he had to do, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they would just cheer him on. He knew there would be tears involved, not sure if it would be theirs or his own.

When Ichigo stepped outside the clinic, he was greeted by a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing and a small breeze stroked at his face. He couldn't of picked a better day a better day to take a walk. He needed to see his friends. He needed to tell them what he planned to do.

On the other side of town, two girls were in a race. One could see from a distance, while these two girls were around the same size, there was a big difference between them. One had the body of an athlete, muscles perfectly toned, a slight tan from all the exercise she did outside. The other looked like any normal student, well there was one exception, this girl was very well endowed. She also didn't appear to be wearing a sports bra either. More than a couple park patrons noticed this. All the males in the onlookers had one thought going through their heads, momentum and physics was a glorious thing. Unfortunately the two runners came to a stop.

"You know Orihime, I'm going to teach why ya need to wear proper equipment. You see all your fans?" Tatsuki gestured to the small crowd of men.

Orihime was still gasping, been a long time since she ran like that.

"Tats, you know how uncomfortable a sports bra makes me. The chafing alone would make you scream."

Orihime walked over a tree and sat down in the shade. Tatsuki soon joined her. The crowd noticing there wouldn't be anymore running, realized they had other places to be.

"Inoue, can I ask you something?" Tatsuki asked, stretching out her arms before she flopped back down.

"Hmm?"

"School's done, have you thought of what your going to do with yourself. I mean you ever think about college?"

Inoue sat in thought for a moment.

"Now that you mention it I was thinking of something."

"College?"

"Not college per se, but it is a type of education."

Now Orihime had Tatsuki's full attention.

"What ya planning to do Inoue?"

Orihime started to blush, then said something in a voice so low Tatsuki couldn't hear her.

"What?"

"I've been thinking of going to a cooking school," she mumbled a little bit louder.

While she was surprised but it wasn't something out of the question for Tatsuki. Orihime loved to cook, even though some of the things she made tended to look a little off.

"You pick out a school yet, Inoue?"

"I've heard good things about the one in downtown Karakura. They have a pastry program that's to die for. While we're on the subject what do you plan to do Tatsuki?"

"Training to become stronger, we can't let Ichigo get all the glory," she said with a smile.

"What do you think Ichigo is going to do?"

"Now that I think about it, what would he do? I mean have you seen him discuss his plans with anyone?"

Inoue just shook her head. She knew what Tatsuki was talking about. Most of her friends were excited about what they were going to do after school. Many were planning to go to various colleges then take up careers such as teachers or business men. Ishida and Chad planned to go into the medical field. Ishida was going to follow in his family's path and Chad simply wanted to help people. Orihime just sighed to herself and laid back. What was Ichigo going to do?

Meanwhile a simple walk had turned into a trek. Ichigo looked at his watch realizing he had been walking for over two hours. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. All around him were shops, stores that carried almost anything you could want. He didn't see the two men who came out of the fabric shop.

"Oi, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo heard someone call out his name, but couldn't see them.

"Hey idiot, turn around," the same voice yelled.

Ichigo didn't know who said that, but whoever it it. They're going to eat his fist. Before he could pursue the situation further, he had a bag thrown in his face. Pulling it down he looked into it. Spools of thread, a few yards of cloth, and two balls of yarn. Ichigo knew who's bag this was, had it been anyone else. They probably would have thought some nice old lady lost her bag.

"You mind giving that back," Ishida said, pushing his glasses up farther on his nose.

Ichigo grunted and tossed the bag at his friend. He became aware of a presence behind him. He turned to find his buddy Chad standing behind him.

"Chad."

"Ichigo," the large man said with a nod.

"Well Kurosaki, what brings you around these parts?" Ishida asked.

"Out for a walk to ease my mind, didn't plan to be out this long or to go this far."

Ishida and Chad both nodded at this.

"Ichigo, Ishida and myself were about to get something to eat, care to join us?" Chad managed to grunt out.

"Sure," Ichigo said, stomach growling as if to set the point.

The three men found a small diner, one that didn't seem to be really busy, even at this time of day. Ichigo lead the way, picking out a corner booth for them to sit at. As soon as they sat themselves down a young woman came to them.

"Hi ya folks, my names is Taki and I'll be your server today. What can I get ya guys to drink?" she asked, handing out menus at the same time.

"Coffee," Chad stated.

Ishida was glancing at the menu when the waitress turned to him.

"And you hun?"

"Iced tea please."

"Lemon?"

Ishida nodded. Taki jotted this down on her pad and looked at Ichigo. She hadn't noticed when he came in, but he was a very handsome man. Maybe he was single she thought to herself. She made a mental note to herself, she needed to give him her number.

"And you?"

Ichigo wasn't sure what he wanted. He read the list of beverages twice over before coming to a decision.

"I'll have glass of lemonade."

"Good choice," Taki said with a smile, looking at Ichigo, "I'll have your drinks in a few minutes, please look through at the menu."

As the woman walked off, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a little odd. Was she staring at him? Did he have something on his face? Ichigo reached down and picked up a napkin dispenser, using its mirrored surface to see if he had anything stuck in his teeth. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he noticed the drinks being placed down. Ichigo quickly sat the object down as discretely as he could.

"You guys decided what your going to have to eat?"

Chad was first to answer, "I'll have the cheeseburger special."

"How would ya like your burger cooked?"

"Medium-well."

She glanced at Ishida.

"Just a salad please."

"Dressing?"

"Caesar, on the side if you would."

Taki nodded, writing the request down. Ichigo was still looking at the menu, he didn't even think of what he was going to order when he was picking his teeth. Noticing the waitress was looking at him he ordered quickly.

"I'll have the special as well, prepared the same way." he said quickly.

As the waitress walked off, Ichigo turned to his friends.

"Guys, there's something I need to tell you."

Chad stopped stirring his coffee and looked at Ichigo. Ishida took a sip of his tea before making a comment.

"You finally coming out? I've had my suspicions for awhile."

Chad was lucky Ichigo wasn't drinking something or he would have been drenched. Ichigo was glaring daggers at the bi spectacled boy.

"No, you asshole, It's nothing like that. It's about what I'm going to do from now on."

"I'm all ears," Ishida said as he took a sip from his tea.

"I'm moving to Soul Society," he waited a moment to take in their reactions before continuing, "I'm going to become a full-time shinigami."

Ishida looked at Ichigo before going back to his tea. Chad simply nodded.

"You guys don't have anything to say?"

The two were silent for a few moments, till Chad spoke.

"Ichigo it's your life. We're your friends. We will support whatever decision you make," Chad paused to sip a bit of his coffee, Ishida just sat there nodding in agreement. Chad continued, "just make sure to visit whenever you get the chance. Don't forget about us."

Ichigo was about to say something but was interrupted by plates being sat down in front of him. The three ate in silence, only stopping to drink. They were soon done. As the check arrived, Ishida picked it up trying to figure out how they were going to split it. He didn't get far before Ichigo took it out of his hand. He was about to voice his opinion of Ichigo's rudeness but was interrupted.

"Don't worry about, this'll be my treat," Ichigo said as he pulled some notes from his wallet and leaving a tip for the waitress.

Ichigo handed the money and the bill to Taki and worked on finishing his drink. It was a couple minutes before his change was brought back. He noted the girl was blushing like crazy when she handed him his change, finding out why as he put his money back in his wallet. Between the notes there was a piece of paper, on it a phone number and a name accented with little hearts. It was his turn to blush now. As he got up and left he glanced at the waitress, she saw him and winked.

"Ever the ladies man, eh Kurosaki?" Ishida said with a bemused look. Chad was smirking before breaking out into his own deep laugh. Ichigo looked like a cherry.

"What have I ever done to deserve this?" he asked, looking to the sky as if expecting an answer.

It was about four in the afternoon when Tatsuki waved goodbye to Orihime. She never knew that feeling this tired was even possible. Having spent better part of the day with the hyperactive girl had finally takin it's toll. She reached over her head, stretching before feeling something pop in her back. Thankfully it was a good pop, resulting in her back loosening up. She

started whistling a tune and was soon on her way home. She walked about ten minutes before she noticed a mopey, orange haired guy ahead of her.

"Ooh, Ichigo looking all mopey and depressed. Who knew?" She said to herself with a hint of sarcasm, "I guess I'll have to change that."

She picked up her pace, bringing it to a steady jog. She didn't need Ichigo to find out about her till the very end.

Ichigo just kept walking, oblivious to the person quickly gaining him. He was too busy mulling over things in his head. He still had people about his plans. There was Tatsuki and Orihime, Keigo was out of town at the moment but he could tell him when he came back for a visit. He still needed away to break it to his sisters. He was still muttering to himself when Tatsuki leaped. A pair of arms pulled him into a bear hug while leaving him blinded.

"Damn it Old man. It's bad enough to pull this crap while I'm at home but to do it in public, that's just unforgivable!" Ichigo yelled, thinking of more things to say before he noticed a weight on his neck. Correction a pair of weights, one on each side of his neck. They felt just like... just like breasts? Ichigo knew his man was getting old and flabby, but he still hadn't developed a set of man boobs.

"Why you looking so mopey Strawberry?"

A voice said as his head was released. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden light but he was soon greeted a smiling Tatsuki. She was in an outfit that seemed more at place at a track meet than to just walk around in.

"Have a lot of things on my mind right now," Ichigo said with a sigh.

"Like?" Tatsuki was bouncing around Ichigo like a boxer, "Want me to help ya?"

"How would you help me..." Ichigo managed to say before being whacked upside the head, "Ow damn it! The hell you do that for?"

"Feel better?" Tatsuki was throwing jabs in the air at this point.

"Cause nothing says feeling good like a minor concussion right?" Ichigo didn't attempt to the hide the sarcasm.

"Yup," Tatsuki said, smacking Ichigo on the other side of his head.

"Goddamn it," Ichigo was getting ticked off now, "That hurts you know!"

"What ya going to do about it?"

Ichigo had to think of something. He couldn't hit her back. This wasn't karate and his self imposed rules didn't allow him to hit girls. There was one thing. Something Tatsuki hated, something he hadn't done since he was eight years old. It was time to fight fire with fire.

"Not paying attention Strawberry," Tatsuki said while throwing a jab.

Ichigo was indeed paying attention, dodging the jab while managing to step behind the girl. He slid his arms around, pinning Tatsuki's arms to her sides.

"Hey what are you doing?!"

"You wanted to play dirty, its time I play dirty," he said with a smile, easing his hold to move his arms a little, reaching the skin just under her ribs. He began to tickle her.

"Ichigo?!..." Tatsuki was laughing to hard to speak.

Ichigo saw the reaction he was getting but refused to ease up. He needed to get even. He continued tickling her till she was on the ground, laughing so hard, that she was just about wheezing. He stopped when the laughing turned into wheezes. Tatsuki just sat there, trying to regain her breath, tears of mirth in her eyes.

"That was dirty pool Strawberry," She said giving the boy a half-hearted glare.

"Alls fair in love and war," Ichigo said, offering his hand to help the girl up, "Plus it's good to know you still have that weakness." Giving her a wink as he pulled her up.

Tatsuki started to blush. While she was still a girl, she didn't like feeling "girly," she was thankful that it was only Ichigo there. She looked down noticing that she was still holding his hand. Quickly releasing it, Tatsuki knew she needed to get back to the subject.

"What's up with you? Women problems?" Ichigo may have known her weakness but she knew his as well.

Ichigo just shook his head, thinking for a moment before speaking. "Well I was hoping I had time to think of a way to tell you, but I might as well tell you now. I plan to be leaving town for awhile."

Tatsuki just stared at him, not believing what she had heard. She felt a twinge in her chest, a pain that seemed to get stronger the more she thought about it.

"How long?" she asked, tears coming into her eyes.

Ichigo could only stand there, taking in the sight in front of him. There stood the toughest person he has ever known, the person who had the ability to make him cry every time she wanted to when he was younger. Starting to cry in front of him. He had to do something.

"I'll be gone a long time, but I'll be able to visit regularly," he said, hoping that would make her feel better.

Tatsuki looked at him. Then started to smile. She was still sniffling but she started to feel better.

"Come on, I'll walk you home."

Ichigo offered his hand to her and started leading her home. He gave her some of the details along the way, but didn't tell her everything. She may have known what he was, but there was things that he wasn't ready to say. It wasn't long before he made it to her house. He led her to the door, patting her on the shoulder and telling her everything would be fine. As he turned to head home, he stopped and looked back. While he couldn't see into her house, he knew she was watching him.

"If Tatsuki cried over me how is Yuzu and Orihime going to take it?" he asked himself as he walked.

Orihime just finished her bath and was in the middle of toweling off when her phone rang.

"Damn telemarketers, always calling when your in the middle of something," she muttered as she made her way to the phone.

"Moshimoshi"

"Inoue?" a voice on the other end asked.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"Aye, sorry about calling you like this but I needed to talk to you about something."

"Umm, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said, struggling to keep the towel on and talk at the same time, "Could you hang on for a moment, I just got out of the bath and in a towel. Could you give me a moment to change into some clothes?"

"Su..Sure," the voice on the other end said, Orihime could of sworn she heard him swallow.

She sat the receiver down and went to her bedroom. Thankfully she was getting ready to go to sleep and had a pair of pajamas waiting. She was clothed and back to the phone in under a minute.

"Sorry about that Kurosaki-kun. What did you need to talk about?"

"I'm going out of town for awhile."

"Ooh like a vacation?" Orihime asked.

"More along the lines of a job but it can be viewed as a vacation by some."

"Well that sounds fun. Will you be able to visit?"

"Yeah," Ichigo felt a lot better now, she was taking it exceptionally well.

"Bring me back some sweets, and spices, Lots of spices," Orihime commanded with a laugh.

"Will do, I got to go now, still got a kilometer before I hit home and Yuzu will have my head if I'm late for dinner."

"OK, Kurosaki-kun. Call me when ya get back, and bring me lots of goodies. Bye."

Ichigo put away his cellphone and quickened his pace. He didn't want to be late. By the time he made it home Yuzu was just putting dinner on the table.

"Your late Ichi-nii," she said, not looking up from her task.

"Sorry, ran into the guys and Tatsuki."

"We'll your not in trouble, just try to come home sooner."

Karin and his dad walked in. Attracted by the scent of food. Soon they were sitting around the table and eating. There was bits of small talk, but Ichigo couldn't find a moment to break it to his sisters. Thankfully Isshin noticed this.

"Girls' your brother has something he needs to tell you. Something important."

"We going to be aunts?" Karin said without hesitation.

Ichigo choked on his water, Yuzu's eyes were as big as moons now.

"No, not anything like that!" Ichigo said, still coughing, "It's just that I'm going away for a bit. On business."

"You got a job?" Karin asked while chewing. She turned to Isshin, "That means I get his room, right old man?"

Isshin just looked at his daughter dumbfounded. He was at a loss for words. Unfortunately Yuzu wasn't.

"Your leaving forever?!" She was sobbing at this point.

"No, no, I'll be able to visit," Ichigo was trying to do everything in his power to console his little sister.

She slowly stopped crying. Her eyes red from the tears. She still looked distraught though.

"When will you be leaving?" she asked, hoping he would say in a month or even a few weeks.

"Within the next day or so."

The room was silent. Everyone just sat and ate. Thankfully Isshin broke the silence.

"How bout I take you girls out for some ice cream."

This pleased the twins greatly. Isshin glanced to his son, about to ask if he'd like to join them. Ichigo shook his head.

"Nah, I need to take a bath. I'll go with ya guys some other time." Ichigo said as he picked up his plate and put it in the sink.

When his family finally left, Ichigo made his way to the bathroom. Peeling of clothes as he walked. Reminding himself to pick them up when he was finished. Yuzu had enough on her mind and didn't need to worry about his laundry. It took a few minutes for the bath to fill. While he waited he decided to look at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe the man looking back at him was really him. He saw a face of a soldier, a face hardened by combat, a face belong to someone who should of lived two hundred years ago.

"Is that what people see when they look at me?" he asked himself.

He pondered this for a few minutes before he noticed that his bath was ready. As he slid in, he noted the water was hotter than what he would of liked but it felt wonderful. He could feel his worries melt away as he soaked. It wasn't long before he heard his family return. His sister laughing as she ran by the bathroom only confirmed this. He needed to finish soon, the old man was going to send a messenger for word on his decision tonight and he didn't want to be late.

Nightfall had just begun as he found his way to the house. The man looked down to the paper with the address and confirmed it was the Kurosaki household.

"Damn old man, sending me out for something like this, but an order's an order."

The man sighed to himself. As the man reached to knock on the doorbell, a sound of jingling could be heard.

A/N: A bit longer than the last chapter, but thinking of keeping each chapter around this length. It just feels right. I need ideas people, and reviews. I need suggestions to decide which direction I should take this beast.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Do we really need this at this point?

Yuzu had just finished putting the dishes away when she heard someone knocking at the front door. As she put away the stool she used to help reach the top shelves, she glanced at the clock. It's digital face told her it was in fact thirteen after eight. Late by anyone's standards.

"Who could that be at this time?"

When she opened the door she almost fainted. There, in front of her, stood a huge man. He looked like what every inspiring yakuza foot soldier dream t of. On his face a huge scar ran down over his left eye. His hair was tied back into a ponytail. He wore a business suit that looked so immaculate it would be reason to weep. She stood there for a moment, trying all but stare at him. When, without warning, the man bowed. As he did the bells that were attached to the string he bound his hair with, jingled slightly.

"Excuse me miss, but would Ichigo be around?" the man rumbled as he straightened back up.

"Ummm... he... he's in the bath. Can I take a message?" Yuzu said, trying not to stare.

"I'm here on very important business, I can wait."

"Co..come on in then," Yuzu stood to the side as the man walked in. She gasped when she noticed he had to bend down to enter the doorway. "I'll have my sister get him. Karin!"

"What?!" the dark haired girl stepped out of the kitchen, munching on a banana.

"Can you get Onii-chan? He has a visitor."

"Hmm?" Karin glanced behind Yuzu, to see the monster of a man sitting in the living room. "Is that a gangster?"

Yuzu didn't answer but gestured for her to go get Ichigo. With a sigh she pulled herself up the stairs.

XX XXXXXXXXXXXX

That bath made Ichigo feel a hundred percent better. He really believed in the saying that a bath soothes the mind and the soul. Ichigo had finished changing into his sleeping clothes when a knock came.

"One sec, almost done," Ichigo said as he threw on an old shirt.

"Ichigo you have a visitor."

"What?" Ichigo said as he opened the door. Outside it stood Karin, looking a little worried.

"Ichigo, do you owe someone money?" Karin was looking scared now.

"Huh?"

Karin just shook her head and headed to her room. Leaving Ichigo to figure out who would be visiting him at this hour.

"Why would she be scared of my friends?" Ichigo muttered as he walked down the stairs. He looked up from his thoughts to see who was waiting for him, "SWEET RAPTOR JESUS!!!"

Before him stood the only person he really feared in all of Soul Society. He had fought beings of immense power, things that craved death and destruction. But none of those held a candle to that in front of him. Kenpachi Zaraki was sitting in his living room. Ichigo looked around himself quickly, hoping to find something to defend himself with.

"Ichigo," the man rumbled as he stood up and took a couple steps toward Ichigo.

Ichigo could feel deaths fingers on his neck. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. But something happened. Death did not come but in its place a warm hand and a chuckle. He opened his eyes to see Zaraki standing before him and he was laughing?

"Ha ha ha, you didn't think I'd kill you in front of your sister did ya?" Zaraki said, still laughing, Yuzu just stood there in a state of shock. "I'm here for business, the old man sent me."

"Umm, Yuzu you mind if we get some privacy?" Ichigo asked his little sister. She quickly nodded and ran upstairs to join her sister. Ichigo nodded to the man, "Now we can talk..."

No sooner the words left his lips, his father had popped out of god knows what hole he was hiding in. He was poised for an attack. Ichigo and Zaraki turned to look at the old fool. Isshin just looked at the man talking with his son.

"Isshin..." Zaraki said, sounding more like a growl than actual words.

"Zaraki"

Ichigo just stood there watching these two men stare each other down. They looked as if they were going to kill one another any moment. He could actually feel the tension hang in the air. Something was going to happen. He didn't have to wait long. Without warning both men threw a punch. The blows were so hard that both men stumbled back from the force. Then something unexpected happened, both of them started laughing.

"Kurosaki you old bastard," Zaraki chuckled, smiling even though he had a split lip.

"Who you calling old, you look like a frigging gangster," Isshin was attempting to stop the blood gushing out of his nose. "What brings you around these parts?"

"Work"

"You planning to stay long."

"A few hours at least, why?"

"I think as a couple of old men, we deserve to have a drink together."

"Heh, same old Kurosaki," Zaraki said with a smile.

"I'll go grab my liquor and some glasses, I'll be right back.

Ichigo who witnessed all this was at a lost for words. His old man and Zaraki were friends? Drinking buddies? There was much of his father he didn't know of. He watched him run off to the other room and heard the sounds of a cabinet opening and the clinking of ice into glasses.

He was brought back to the matter at hand with one word.

"So?"

"Huh?" Ichigo just stood there looking like and idiot.

"You make your decision?" asked Zaraki.

Ichigo just stood there for a moment before answering. "Yeah I'm going to do it."

Zaraki looked at him and nodded. "We can leave in the morning, Make sure to have your things in order."

Isshin soon ran into the room, carrying a bottle that had a label Ichigo couldn't read, and three glasses.

"Dad what's with the glasses?" Ichigo asked.

Isshin looked at the glasses, then at Zaraki, and finally Ichigo. "Because tonight is a night for celebration. Your a man now. It's time you drank like one."

Zaraki started chuckling. Isshin soon filled the glasses with ice and a portion of the amber colored liquor. He handed a glass to Zaraki and Ichigo before pouring for himself. When he was sure everyone had a glass. He proposed a toast.

"Too friends and comrades!"

All three of them took a sip from their respective glasses. Ichigo was a little weary of what he was holding. It smelled strong, or how he imagined a strong drink would smell like. He took another sip, noting the burning sensation as the liquid traveled down his throat, this was replaced with a pleasant warming sensation. He took another sip, a feeling of fogginess edging in on his senses.

"Isshin, what is this stuff?" Zaraki asked.

"Scotch, a twelve year old single malt to be exact," Isshin stated.

"Whatever it is, it's strong," Zaraki said with a grimace.

"Don't tell me the demon of Zaraki can't hold his alcohol anymore."

As if to prove his point, Zaraki finished his glass.

Isshin refilled his friends glass, "So tell me Zaraki," sitting the bottle back down.

"Hmm?"

"Still taking care of Yachiru?

"Yeah, she's getting to be a handful," Zaraki said with a laugh, "I can't imagine what she'll be like as a teenager."

"I hear ya," Isshin said as he took a sip of his drink, glancing up, "Still carrying a torch for Unohana-Taicho?"

Zaraki almost spat out his drink. Isshin was giggling like a little girl at this point.

"Ok, Ok, you don't need to answer that question. You have to answer one thing though."

"What?"

"What's with the gigai? It's not exactly inconspicuous."

"Urahara gave it to me in exchange for my old one, said something about the samurai looking not swinging anymore. I do have to admit it does look good though."

Ichigo just sat there, watching this conversation unfold. He suddenly felt sleepy. He glanced at his father and noticed concern on his face.

"I think Ichigo had too much, too fast." Isshin said, stating the obvious.

"Have to agree with ya there, but with time we can turn him into a champion."

Ichigo laughed at this, falling forward in his seat. Luckily his father caught him in time. Preventing him from knocking himself out on the floor.

"Ichigo, go to bed," Isshin said, taking the glass Ichigo was still holding from his hand, "Go sleep it off. Me and Kenpachi have other things to talk about."

"S'okay," Ichigo managed to slur out, making his way to the stairway.

He was soon in his bedroom, lying in bed. He didn't feel like covering up. He just wanted to sleep.

As he listened to sounds of laughter come from downstairs, he was overtaken.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Bang!**

"That clock wouldn't be beeping anytime soon," Ichigo muttered to himself as he stretched. The clocks digital display told him it was half past four in the morning. He needed to get ready. He wasn't sure what he could take and what he couldn't but there was somethings he couldn't live without. His laptop being one of these things. He had spent the last few years building an extensive music collection. He'll be damned before he let that go. As he packed that into a duffel along with some clothes, he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in." he said, going back to the task at hand.

"Leaving today I see," his father said, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, no point drawing it out longer than I have to."

"You sure about this?"

Ichigo nodded. Noting that his father was holding something in his hand. Isshin saw this and tossed the object to Ichigo. Ichigo saw it was a bag and was just getting ready to open it.

"Don't open it yet," Isshin started to smirk, "Wait till your in Soul Society before you open it. It's a few things I put together to make your stay easier."

Ichigo sighed and threw it in the duffel with the rest of his stuff and headed out. As he left his room, his father pulled him into a hug and whispering into his ear.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do and make me and your mother proud."

Isshin held the embrace for a few moments finally letting go with a pat on the back. Ichigo was on the verge of tears, but he couldn't show it though. He looked back at his father who had reverted back to his usual corniness, throwing him a dual thumbs up. Sighing Ichigo continued forward, stopping at his sisters bedroom door. He opened the door and peered in. Yuzu was sleeping with Karin, completely forgoing her own bed. Ichigo watched them for a moment longer.

"I know you guys are sleeping," speaking in a low whisper, "I'm going away for awhile. I don't know when I'll be back but know this. I'll always love you."

Ichigo watched their sleeping forms for a minute longer before closing the door. He should of waited till both were awake to tell them but he didn't want to see them cry. Reaching down and picked up his bag, throwing it over his shoulder with a sigh. He walked slowly downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. As his walked away a pair of eyes opened.

Karin spoke into the darkness tears forming in her eyes, "I love you too Ichigo."

x xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zaraki sat outside just gazing at the sky. While a few stars were visible, the city's lights were too bright. Gone was the gigai he used to walk around in, back was his shinigami form. He placed his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto and started pacing.

"Damn city," he spat out into the night. "Ichigo better hurry, I still have a Captain's meeting this morning."

He didn't wait long. The sound of a door closing announced the arrival of Ichigo.

"Got everything ya need?" asked the large man.

Ichigo didn't say anything but held up his bag as if to answer the question.

"Good," Zaraki pulled his sword and pointed ahead of him. With a twisting motion, like unlocking a door, a gate appeared before them. "The old man is probably waiting for us."

Ichigo nodded, pulling his bag tighter to himself, and followed Kenpachi through the gate.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dawn had just broke in Soul Society when Yamamoto received news of Ichigo's arrival. The messenger arrived as the old man finished getting dressed. The messenger arrived as he was leaving for his morning walk.

"Sir, Zaraki-Taicho has returned from the living world."

"Did he bring the boy with him?" Yamamoto asked, lightly stroking his beard.

"Sir, do you mean the boy with orange hair?" the messenger asked, not wanting to make mistake in front of his boss.

"Yes, has a sour look on his face all the time."

"Yes, the boy came through the gate with him."

"Good, I need you to return to them with a message."

"Sir?"

"Tell Ichigo to meet me in the main hall in twenty minutes. I have many things to discuss with him."

The messenger saluted and flash stepped the direction from which he came. Yamamoto continued with his walk, making a detour so he would arrive at the main hall. He was glad Ichigo decided to come to their side. They were still short of capable shinigami and he has proven his worth countless times over. He was destined for greatness

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ichigo didn't say anything as he stepped out of the gate. He just wanted to absorb all that he viewed. Soul Society hadn't changed a bit. While there was signs of fresh construction, it still looked old world. Thankfully the Arrancar war didn't leave any lasting effects. Ichigo was looking down the path, noting the offices of the gotei were. He turned to Zaraki, getting ready to ask him a question when a man appeared in front of them.

"Zaraki-Taicho, I'm here to deliver a message from Yamamoto-Taicho," the man seemed to be cowering, not making eye contact with the large man.

"Well, don't just stand there," Zaraki barked to the man, "What does the old man want?"

"He wants Ichigo Kurosaki to meet him in the main hall."

"That's it?" Zaraki was losing his patience, any idiot would of known that Ichigo would have to see the old man as soon as he arrived.

The messenger nodded and then flashed away. Leaving Ichigo with a volatile Zaraki. Not a pleasant thing to have to deal with the first day of your new job. Zaraki was muttering to himself, finally he turned to Ichigo.

"You know where the main hall is?"

Ichigo shook his head, he's been to several of the divisions headquarters, but never to the main hall.

"Listen, it's just down the road a bit farther down," he pointed down the road with his zanpakuto, "it's only a few minutes away but you can't miss it."

Ichigo looked down the road and back at the man.

"Umm thanks," Ichigo turned, getting ready to be on his way.

"Yo, Ichigo!"

Ichigo turned back at the sound of his name. He was greeted with a blade being pressed to his neck.

"You know you owe me a fight right?" Zaraki said, grinning like a demon, "We may be on the same team now but we need to settle who's the stronger of the two."

Ichigo just stood there, he was afraid of accidentally cutting himself if he moved. Zaraki stood there, staring down his comrade. Finally drawing his weapon back, he turned and made his way to his own division. He would get his fight but it had to wait. He started whistling as he walked away, dragging his blade along the ground.

Ichigo stood there for a few moments, not sure what just happened. He could feel the sweat come down his forehead, stopping at his eyebrows. The birds started to announce their wakening to world, the sound snapping Ichigo out of his stupor. He drew a breath and sighed.

"I don't think I'm cut for this job. The stress is going to get me before anything else does."

Ichigo looked in Zaraki's direction for a moment before turning. He didn't want to make the old man wait.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ichigo finally made it to the main hall. He was still in a bit of a shock from his dealings with Zaraki but he at least made it in time. As he looked ahead he was greeted with the sight of the old man.

"Greetings Kurosaki," the man said in manner that belied his position, "I'm glad you chose to join us."

"Didn't really have a choice," Ichigo said, placing his bag on the ground, "Didn't have much time to study with all the crap going on. Wars and such, you know how it is."

The man nodded, "While that may be true, trust me when I say this. I'll be sure to make it worth your while. But there is several matters that need to be discussed."

"Like?"

"For started, while you may be strong. You are still just a shinigami representative. You'll we'll need to complete a basic shinigami exam."

"WHAT?!" Ichigo yelled. He was silenced with the sound of a cane tapping the floor.

"Now if I may continue," he glared at the boy, "You will need to do the exam. With the completion of of the exam with a passing grade you will be issued a hell butterfly. You will be also be placed in one of the divisions. Your exact placement is based on your grade. You getting this so far?"

Ichigo nodded.

"The hell butterfly, while being a tool to help shinigamis cross between the worlds, it is also proof that one has completed the exam. With that matter settled. We have two more things to discuss."

The door behind Ichigo opened. Unohana-taicho came in followed by Byakuya. Ichigo noticed that Byakuya still had that emotionally dead look. He glanced over at the woman, she gave him a small bow and a smile.

"Now that Kuchiki and Unohana-taicho arrived. We can sort out your other problems."

Ichigo stared at the old man, a look of puzzlement on his face, "Problems sir?"

"Yes, the first is simple. Do you have a place to stay at till your placed Kurosaki?"

Ichigo knew this was going to happen. He had planned to stay with Renji or Ikkaku. Nothing was set in stone so he could only shake his head.

"I see, well there's good news. Kuchiki-taicho offered to let you stay with him till you were placed."

Ichigo turned to look at the man. Byakuya nodded to him. Ichigo could do all but gape. Here, the man he could of sworn wanted him dead, offered his home to him. Rukia must be behind this. The old man cleared his throat, getting Ichigo's attention back to him.

"Now we need to deal with a problematic matter. Kurosaki did you happen to notice something when you arrived."

"Besides all the new construction?"

"A little more personal than that."

Ichigo just looked at him, he was completely in the dark.

"When you crossed over, you crossed with your body. You obviously can't train and fight in that condition."

"Umm sir?" Ichigo was trying to piece together his thoughts into a cohesive sentence, "I couldn't leave my body behind. I didn't have any soul candy and couldn't leave a lifeless body around my family."

Yamamoto just smiled to the boy. "It's no problem. Unohana-taicho has come up with a solution to your situation." He gestured to the woman.

Stepping forward, she spoke; "Kurosaki-kun, My division is willing to watch your body while you stay here."

"Won't it... I die if I just leave it?" Ichigo had a look of worry on his face.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm not sure if Urahara-sama explained anything to you, but your already dead."

Ichigo just stared at her.

"When your chain of fate was severed, you basically died." She tried to tell him in simple terms, worrying that this would blow his mind.

"But what about this?" Ichigo gestured to himself, "I'm in my body now, I can eat, breathe, do anything a living person can do."

"While you soul did die, your body is still alive," she stepped forwards, grasping Ichigo's shoulder, "Think of it now as a really well done gigai."

"I need to sit down," Ichigo plopped down on the ground, this was too much to think about at once.

Unohana looked down at Ichigo, offering her hand to help him up; "I can insure your body's safety, this I swear to you."

Ichigo looked at the woman with a bit of uncertainty, "My body will be fine? Nothing will happen to it?"

"You have my word."

"OK," Ichigo reached into his bag to get something, it took him a moment to find what he was looking for. He pulled out his shinigami representative badge and pressed it against his chest. A moment later he was standing next to himself. His body just laid there in a heap. Unohana picked it up, throwing it over her shoulder.

"If you need your body for anything, please stop by my headquarters," the woman gave him a small smile and left the room, his body in tow.

Ichigo watched her for a moment longer then turned back to face the old man.

"Anything else I need to know about sir?"

"Your exam is to be taken a month and a half from now. You will be in preparation classes in the academy in the mean time. With that you are dismissed."

Ichigo's mind was a mess. He didn't mind that he had basically given away his body. That was something that had to be done, no exceptions. What he couldn't wrap his mind around was that Byakuya was be nice to him. He looked at the man who gestured for him to follow.

"Kurosaki, the academy's new classes don't start for another week. This will give you time to settle in." The man said as he led Ichigo to his home.

"Byakuya may I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you letting me stay with you. I could of stayed with Renji or even the Shiba's, you didn't have to take me in."

"Rukia caught wind that you were coming to Soul Society. She didn't want you staying with anyone else till you were placed. You know how she gets when she sets her mind on something."

Ichigo looked at him and then smiled, "Still stubborn eh?"

"Not as bad as she used to be. A little more abusive if that stuff animal she brought back with is any clue."

"Kon?"

"He got caught while peeping in on her. She sent him to twelfth division as punishment."

Ichigo shuddered to himself as he thought of the horrors the poor mod soul had to endure. He noticed that Byakuya stopped walking.

"We're here."

Before Ichigo stood a house that seemed to be without equal in Soul Society. It was huge, the place was surrounded by tall walls. One couldn't see the first floor from ground level. As he passed through the gate he noticed that gardens surrounded him. He could here the sound of flowing water coming from behind the house. Must have a small pond back Ichigo thought to himself. He followed Ichigo into the house. Inside it looked like you thought any nobles house would look like. Nice and neat, everything placed just right. He even had a servant. At lease she seemed nice, a bit pleasant on the eyes as well.

"Welcome home, Kuchiki-sama!" the young woman beamed.

"Thank you Sakura, is my sister home?"

"The lady is upstairs changing, she should be down in a minute. Would you like me to prepare some tea for you and our guest?"

"That would be fine."

Ichigo watched her leave the room, when she was gone he went back to looking around. He didn't want to move, fearing he would break something, Byakuya was being nice to him, he didn't want to lose that.

"Sit down Kurosaki, make yourself at home." The older man said as he left the room himself.

Ichigo looked in the next room, noticing that a table was set up in the middle of it. Must be where they eat and drink tea Ichigo thought to himself. He sat his bag down and plopped down next to the table. Byakuya joined him a minute later. The man had removed his captain's mantle and taken the ornaments out of his hair. He almost looked normal. Sakura soon came in, bringing with her the tea pot and three cups. She placed a cup in front of Ichigo and placed on next to him.

"The lady is coming down," she said as she placed the last cup in front of Byakuya

Hearing this, Ichigo turned to look at the door he came in from. He hadn't seen Rukia for almost a year and half. He wasn't sure how she would take their meeting after such an absence. Sakura just finished serving the tea when Rukia stepped in. Ichigo just stared at her, at a total loss of words.

"Ichigo!" she squealed when she saw the orange haired boy. She also noticed that her brother was sitting with him. Rukia quickly sat down next to Ichigo. Quickly reverting to characteristics of a noble. This however didn't last long.

"Been a long time, Shorty."

**WHAM!**

Rukia was still self-conscious of her size, but most knew not to poke fun of it. Anyone who didn't follow this quickly suffered at the hands of the petite girl.

**BAM!**

Ichigo knew he would of hit a nerve with his comment, but he didn't expect this.

"Ow, Ow quit it Rukia!" Ichigo attempted to deflect as many blows as he could.

Rukia hit him a few more times before settling back down to sip her tea. "I missed you, baka."

"Missed you too." He sat there, nursing his fresh injuries.

Byakuya just sat there, sipping his tea and watched the spectacle. As soon as the two kids settled back down, he spoke.

"Rukia..."

Rukia turned to her old brother. "Yes nii-sama?"

"Would you mind showing Kurosaki around the house. I still have to go to my captains meeting and I'm not sure how long I will be."

"It's no problem." Rukia turned to Ichigo giving him a look that would freeze the sun. "It will be my pleasure in fact."

Byakuya shivered slightly as he witnessed the look on his sister's face. He quickly finished his tea and stepped up from the table.

"I must be going. I'll be back later. Ichigo if you need anything just ask Sakura. I told her to treat you with the same respect she gives me. She will take care of everything."

Ichigo nodded to the man. He watched him leave the room and went back to drinking his tea.

"Ichigo?"

He turned to stare at the ebony hair girl. "Hmm?"

"I really missed you." Rukia started to blush.

Ichigo finished his tea and patted the girl on the head. "I missed you too. Think you could show me my room.?"

Rukia nodded to him and got up. She grasped his hand and led him upstairs. His room was to be at the end of the hall, on the opposite ends of the house. Byakuya wasn't sure of Ichigo's relationship with his sister but he didn't want to risk anything going on. The room was rather large, consisting of an open space with a few pieces of furniture. A desk with a chair sat along the far wall with another chair sitting besides the window. Ichigo placed his bag on the desk and walked to the window. As he stood there, he noted that Rukia joined him.

"Ichigo can I ask you something?" Rukia asked, still staring out the window.

"What?"

She turned to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?"

Ichigo was put on the spot, he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"I wasn't sure if I really was going to come. I didn't want it to bother you."

Rukia nodded and turned back to the window. She balled up her right fist and swung.

**WHAM!**

"OW, the hell you doing Rukia?!"

She didn't answer him. She kept hitting him.

**POW!**

**BAM!**

"You didn't feel the need to tell me, for this you need to be punished." She said as she kicked him in the shin.

This continued for about a minute. Resulting in a bruised and lumpy Ichigo and a irritable Rukia. Thankfully for Ichigo she soon left. Leaving him to nurse his wounds. Ichigo sat down at the desk and started to go through his bag. After a few minutes he noticed something tugging at his leg. He looked down to see the sorriest looking sight ever. There stood a stuffed lion and it looked like it's been to hell and back.

"Kon?"

"Hi Ichigo." The lion said in a quiet voice, so low Ichigo almost didn't hear it. "Long time no see."

"Kon you ok?" The teenager asked. The lion looked at him for a moment then jumped into his lap.

"Oh Ichigo it's been horrible. Rukia is a scary woman." The plush lion cried.

"I heard about your little escapades kon. Caught you when you were peeping did she? Sent ya to the twelfth division I heard."

The doll didn't answer him. Instead it sat down and hugged it's furry little knees. It started to rock back and forth.

"Ichigo, I've seen things. Had things done to me that no one should have to experience. That clown looking freak did tests on me."

Ichigo couldn't help but feel sorry for Kon. He heard the horror stories about division twelve. They made Dr. Frankenstein look like a saint. Ichigo watched Kon for a moment, forgetting that he had things he wanted to ask Kon about, and actually started to comfort him.

"It will be ok Kon." He patted the doll's shoulder. "Everything will be better now that I'm here."

"Yeah, Rukia will take your frustration out on you instead of me." The toy said with a bit of mirth in his voice.

Ichigo chuckled a little bit and turned to look out the window. He knew the lion spoke the truth. What he wasn't sure was how he was going to survive these few weeks.

X xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Damn meeting, more of the same crap. Day after day it's still the same. Nothing ever happens here, there's nothing new to report to the old man."

The man grumbled out loud for a few minutes. Causing people to clear out of his path. If his manner wasn't intimidating enough. The tattoos on his face more than made up for it.

"Well at least I got some good news." Renji told himself, oblivious to the people around him. However after a minutes he realized people were staring at him.

"Damn it I was thinking out loud again." He said to no one in particular.

Yamamoto told them that Ichigo finally came to the other side at this mornings meeting. He also explained what Ichigo had to go through before he could be placed. Renji knew it was going to be hell for his friend. He went through it himself, but he had years to get prepared. Ichigo had a month and half. Renji stopped walking for a moment deciding that he was going to pay Ichigo a visit.

Renji had been walking for awhile now. He was sure that he got himself lost. He had an idea of where Byakuya lived but hasn't gone there in years. After a few more minutes of wandering he saw something that he knew. Ahead of him a man with orange hair was walking down the road. He didn't know anyone in Soul society with that hair color. It could mean only one thing.

"OI, Ichigo!" The red haired man yelled.

Ichigo stopped walking and turned around when he heard his name. Renji was running up to him.

"Well howdy stranger." Ichigo said to the gasping shinigami.

"Is that how you greet a friend and comrade?" Renji was still trying to catch his breath. As he bent down he looked up at his friend. Noting he had a shiner under his left eye and was looking a little worse for wear. "The hell happened you?"

"Rukia." Was all Ichigo said, he didn't need to say anything else. Renji knew what Rukia was capable of.

Renji patted Ichigo on the back and said. "Be thankful she didn't do the Kon treatment to ya. Kon told me what happened to him and I still can't get over the nightmares."

Ichigo burst out laughing. "Don't tell me that nightmares bother someone like you." Ichigo gestured to something that Renji was wearing. "That's the captain's mantle for the 3rd Division isn't it?"

"Rukia didn't tell you? I got promoted after the war. Didn't have much for competition though."

"Hey good news is good news. Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks," He gave Ichigo a small smile. "Heard the old mans making you jump through all sorts of hoops."

"Yeah, have to do some kind of exam."

"Yeah the shinigami placement exam. It's used as a reference to help them place you among the divisions. If you have a knack for healing arts you will get placed with 4th division. If you can fight well, you get placed with Zaraki's crew."

Ichigo shuddered at the thought of having to work under Zaraki.

"I wouldn't worry about that with you." Renji sensed the change in Ichigo. "Someone of your caliber could easily make Captain."

"Isn't all of the positions filled? I mean it's been two years since the traitors left."

"I took over 3rd division and Shuhei became captain of the 9th. That leaves the 5th division without a captain. Good news for you."

Ichigo smiled a bit, grateful for this bit of news. Now he needed to do well on his exam. His classes would be starting in a week.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. Next one is going to be delving into Ichigo's training at the academy. Also going to be introducing two new characters. These two will be playing a large part in the story from now on. Read and reviews folks. I still need ideas and opinions.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Isn't cheesecake technically a pie?

Ichigo stood outside the academy. Renji told him all about it but this was the first time he actually saw the place. It looked like a college campus if you ignored the people wearing shinigami robes. The place seemed to teem with activity. People were hurrying to and fro. Some even mentioned of being late for class.

"Heh, thought my days of schools were over but it looks like I was mistaken." Ichigo told himself with a sigh. "Might as well get it over with."

As Ichigo stepped through the gates, a new chapter in his life had begun to unfold.

----

'God I'm bored' Tatsuki thought to herself. So far her summer was turning into one humdrum thing after another. First her parents abandon her to go off on one of their "relaxation" trips. She knew what they did on those "trips," she shuddered involuntarily at the mere thought of it. All her friends left on vacations, with the only Ichigo's crew and Orihime staying behind. She knew they had to deal with the creatures that appeared time to time and didn't want to abandon their post.

Tatsuki started to think about Ichigo. She learned what he was the year before but she didn't understand all the details. 'Did he have to leave because he was a shinigami?' she thought to herself. She laid on her bed pondering this thought and similar ones for a few minutes before coming to a decision. It was time to she got some answers for these questions she had. It was time to speak with Urahara.

Tatsuki got up from the bed and got ready. She has seen Urahara once before and that was when Ichigo left to save Orihime. She wasn't so sure how he would take her appearing out of the blue and starting to ask questions, but she was willing to risk it. She had to learn what happened with Ichigo. As she left her house, she felt a new feeling coming into her heart, but she didn't know what it was. It was the sense of longing.

----

Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the inside of academy. On the outside it looked to be the size of the average college campus but once you saw the inside you could see that its much larger. There was many buildings, all placed between gardens. Students could be seen moving from building quickly, a few stopping to steal a quick glance at Ichigo before continuing on their way. Ichigo watched the activity for a few minutes before remembering he mad to meet someone.

Yamamoto told him to meet the headmaster of the academy first so he can be placed in the proper classes. 'What was his name?' Ichigo thought to himself before remembering that the old man wrote it down on a note before he left. 'The trick now is remembering what I did with it,' Ichigo muttered as he searched the sleeves of his robe. After about a minute he finally found it. All it said was :

Hakame Nekotake

"That's it?" Ichigo just stared at the note. "No directions, nothing?"

Ichigo came to realize he had to do the thing every man dreads. He would need to ask someone for help. He looked around the courtyard, looking for someone to ask and wouldn't embarrass him too badly. He quickly spotted an older man walking quickly between buildings. Ichigo quickly ran towards the man.

"Excuse me sir!" Ichigo called, trying to get the man to stop. Ichigo didn't have to repeat himself thankfully.

"Yes son?" The old man asked Ichigo stopping for a moment.

"I'm sorry to bother you like this but I'm lost. I was told to meet someone but I have no clue where anything is here."

"Who you looking for?"

Ichigo handed the older man the note.

"Ah, I'm heading there myself, you can follow me if you want." The old man told Ichigo as he continued on his way. "You mind telling me your name son?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ah the war hero. There has been rumors flying around here for the past week that we were having an important student joining us. Didn't expect it to be you." The old man said with a chuckle.

Ichigo tried to keep himself from blushing from the compliments, but all his efforts were in vain. He ended up turning a light shade of pink. 'At least it's not a woman,' Ichigo thought to himself.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." The old man asked from ahead of Ichigo.

"Nothing," Ichigo was mad at himself for his mistake. He was starting to act like Renji now.

After a few minutes of walking they came to a small building. Ichigo noticed a sign above the doorway:

Headmaster's Office

'Well that was quick' Ichigo thought to himself. He turned to the old man to thank him only to find that he was gone. Ichigo looked around quickly before realizing the old man had walked into the building.

"Sir?"

The old man walked back to the doorway and looked at Ichigo, " you coming in or you going to stand around like a fool all day?"

Ichigo quickly followed the old man. As he came into the building he noticed the old man sitting down behind the desk.

"Hakame Nekotake?"

"The one and only." The old man said with a smile. "Yamamoto said you would be coming today. In all honesty I was out looking for you when you met me."

"Sir.."

"I know about your situation Ichigo. Most shinigami train for a minimum ten years to pass the exam. You have five weeks. Thankfully we have classes that you would call "cram school" in your world. They should whip you into shape for your exam rather quickly."

"Thank you sir."

"Your class will be starting soon. It deals with the ability to manipulate your spirit energy and use of demon arts. I heard that you couldn't use demon arts and took it upon myself to enroll you in that class. I'll give you one warning, the instructor is a little strange."

"Strange sir?" Ichigo asked.

"You'll see when you meet him. Now we better get you to class, you don't want to be late for your class do you?"

Ichigo just shook his head.

"Then follow me, I'll show you to your class."

----

It took Tatsuki about twenty minutes to walk from her home to Urahara's. When she arrived Ururu and Jinta was in front of the place sweeping. They stopped when they noticed they had a visitor.

"Can I help you ma'am?" The quiet girl asked as she looked at Tatsuki.

**Whap!**

The sound of the broom handle making contact with the small girl's head echoed through the quiet street.

"Idiot!" Jinta yelled as he held his broom up. "It's obvious that she's here to see the boss."

"Ow," The poor whimpered out.

"Yo, butchy."

Tatsuki could feel the anger start to bubble in her. She hated being called butchy, it was the same line many of the kids at school used to call her.

"Hey, you listening to me?" Jinta asked.

Tatsuki looked at the boy, contemplating the consequences of beating the life out of him.

"Come on, I'll take you to the boss."

"What about her?" Tatsuki gestured to the crying girl.

"Ah hell, she'll be fine. Now follow me if ya want to see Urahara."

Tatsuki looked at the girl once and followed the boy into the shop. The place hadn't changed a bit since the last time she was here. Everything seemed to be in a state of disarray with boxes of merchandise lying here and there. She followed Jinta and headed into the back of the shop.

"Yo boss, you have a visitor." Jinta said as he knocked on a closed door.

"Well show them in." A voice replied from behind the door.

Jinta looked at Tatsuki once and opened the door for her. Tatsuki noticed that Urahara had other visitors. One of which she immediately recognized. Urahara seemed to be in the middle of tea with Ichigo's father and a woman she didn't recognize.

"What can I do for you Miss Arisawa?" The man asked as he sipped his tea.

"How do you know my name?" The black haired girl blurted out.

"I never forget a pretty face," Urahara said with a smile, causing the girl to blush slightly. "Also your a friend of Ichigo's, you were here when he left awhile back. Care for a cup of tea?"

"Um, sure." Tatsuki wasn't sure how to take his earlier comment, and decided to sit down next to Isshin.

"Haven't seen you in awhile kiddo, how you been?" Isshin asked as he finished his tea.

Tatsuki felt a bit relieved that she had someone she knew with her.

"I've been doing good."

"That's good to hear, I'd love to stay and chat but my clinic can't run itself. So I must bid you farewell." With that said he got up, "We got to do this again some time Urahara."

"That we must." The man with the hat said as he poured a cup of tea for Tatsuki.

Tatsuki was soon left with two people she didn't really know. The dark skinned woman just stared at her making Tatsuki more than a tad uncomfortable. The three just sat there in silence.

Urahara broke was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Now what can I do for you?"

"I have questions that I need answered."

"Simple enough. What do you need to know?"

Tasuki wasn't sure what she wanted to ask first. She wanted to know what Ichigo really was. There was also of the matter of him leaving abruptly. She pondered these thoughts for a minute before coming to a choice.

"What is Ichigo really?" She asked.

Urahara sipped his tea once before answering.

"Well Ichigo is a shinigami, well a shinigami representative to be exact, but a shinigami nonetheless."

Tatsuki already knew this. He admitted it to her when he came back with Orihime.

"Do you need me to explain what a shinigami is?"

Tatsuki shook her head.

"Can you tell me if that's the reason he left?"

The woman next to Urahara finally spoke.

"That's correct."

Tatsuki just stared at her.

"Oh excuse me, where is my manners? I'm Yoruichi Shihouin. I'm a friend of Ichigo's."

Yoruichi reached her hand out.

"Tatsuki Arisawa." Tasuki said as she shook Yoruichi's hand.

"Now that introductions are taken care of. Let's talk about Ichigo. It's true that he left because he was a shinigami."

"How do you mean?" Tatsuki asked.

Urahara spoke up, "He was offered a job. A pretty good one in my opinion."

"What kind of a job?"

Urahara sat down and began to explain the workings of Soul Society and the Gotei thirteen. Tatsuki listened as she nursed her tea, being sure to take in all the details. This continued for about ten minutes before Urahara finished explaining everything. When he was finished Tatsuki just sat there stunned. She didn't know that Ichigo was in so deep with all this.

"Will he be able to come back?" Tatsuki asked, fearing the worst.

"I don't know to be sure. Now miss Arisawa, do you mind answering a question of mine?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you care what happens to Ichigo?"

Tatsuki didn't a have a chance to answer. The sound of a blow making contact with Urahara's head echoed through the room.

"You can be an idiot sometimes Kisuke," Yoruichi said as she rubbed her fist. "It's obvious that she cares for Ichigo. Christ are you so dense that you can't see that?"

"Gomen" Was all Urahara could say as he rubbed the knot on the side of his head.

Yoruichi turned to Tatsuki. "You love him don't you?"

All Tatsuki could do was blush.

"Do you want to see him again?" The older woman asked.

"Yes" Tatsuki said in a barely audible whisper.

"Would you be willing to do anything to be with him again?"

Tatsuki nodded.

"You can't be serious Yoruichi. You can't be meaning that." Urahara said, finally recovering from the blow he received.

"Kisuke, you would be wise to keep quiet while your ahead." Yoruichi raised her fist again to accentuate her point. Urahara quickly shut up.

"What would I have to do?"

"Train" Was all the woman said.

"Just train, that doesn't sound like a big deal." Tatsuki could feel her confidence building.

"This isn't just simple training like you would do for martial arts. This is a whole new spectrum. Do you think you can handle it?"

Tatsuki nodded.

"Then come back tomorrow, and come prepared. There will be much to do and about a month to do it."

"Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it. A friend of Ichigo's is a friend of mine. A bit of advice though. Go home and get some rest, your going to need it."

Tatsuki nodded and got up. She shook Yoruichi's hand once more and let herself out.

Urahara turned to his friend, "You think it's possible to train her?"

"She's strong. She has so much spirit power that it's oozing from her."

"Like Kurosaki?" Kisuke questioned.

"Yeah, she's been around him so much that he's rubbed off on her. If she can learn how to make use of it she could become strong."

"Heh, hopefully not like you. I don't think Ichigo could handle her."

Yoruichi didn't say anything, instead she smacked Kisuke once more and left for her room.

"Ichigo, I worry for your safety my friend, for a force most fearsome is coming your way." Urahara said out loud as he rubbed the second of two knots.

Tatsuki was on air as she walked home. She had a way to see Ichigo again and become stronger. Two of the things she cared for deeply in her life and come to a point. She wondered what the dark skinned woman had in store for her, but she wasn't worried. She was a tough girl and could handle anything. If it was to see Ichigo, it was reason enough to go through with it. As the girl let herself into her house her mind was running a mile a minute. There was so many things she was thinking, but they would have to wait. She needed to get some rest. If Yoruichi was speaking truthfully when she spoke of the training, she would be needing it. As she nestled into her bed a smile crept across her face, there it remained till she fell asleep.

----

'Todays going to be another one of those days' Ken Kurotsuchi thought to himself as he looked over his class. He was starting to dread being an instructor at the academy. He wasn't lucky enough to get a normal class with normal students, no he had to watch over a band of punks. Students that couldn't handle normal classes. They either were too stupid or didn't apply themselves, but they still had dreams of becoming full fledged shinigami. They were still punks in his eyes. His train of thought was interrupted when the door opened. Standing there was a boy with his boss.

Nekotake looked over the class. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Be it talking with their classmates to a girl doodling in her book. The old man sighed to himself and walked over to the instructor.

"You have a new student today." Nekotake said to Kurotsuchi as he handed him a piece of paper.

"Is that so?" Kurotsuchi said as he glanced at the paper. 'Ichigo Kurosaki? Heard about him from my brother. So this is him?' He glanced at the boy standing near the door. 'Looks like another punk to me.'

"Take care of him for me. Yamamoto wants him whipped into shape, and wants it soon."

"I'll do my best."

The old man nodded and left, giving Ichigo a smile.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. I want you all to give him a warm welcome."

Everyone continued with what they were doing. None of them paid their instructor any attention.

Kurotsuchi could feel this veins throbbing in his temples. 'Today is going to be the day I snap and take this class with me' he thought to himself. Thoughts like that were pleasant to him, but he had to announce Ichigo's arrival.

"**Shut the hell up you little shits and look up here!"**

That had the effect he had hoped for. All eyes were on him and Ichigo.

"Now as I was saying. We have a new student today. This is Ichigo Kurosaki"

Everyone in the room turned their attention from their teacher to the boy standing next to him.

Almost everyone has heard of him. Be it from the war or when he assaulted Seiretei to save Kuchiki.

Ichigo himself just wanted to shrink and disappear. He hated being the center of attention and hoped that he could just slip into the class without commotion. Kurotsuchi's announcement didn't achieve that in the least.

"Now I want you all to welcome him warmly and make him feel at home. Ichigo your seat will be that empty one in the second row from the back." Kurotsuchi said, still in teacher mode.

'Ah hell, smack middle in the room. Just my friggin luck' Ichigo thought to himself as he trudged to his seat. Feeling the eyes peering at him as he went.

"Now that were ready for class. How bout we discuss something today..." Kurotsuchi didn't finish his sentence. His students clamored over to Ichigo and started asking questions. All he could do at this point was bang his head against his desk.

"Are you the _Ichigo Kurosaki?_" One guy asked Ichigo.

Ichigo was about to answer him but was interrupted by a pair a girls.

"You seeing anyone?" The one to his left asked.

"Are you single?" Said the one on the right.

"Wha.. What?" Ichigo sure as hell wasn't expecting to be asked something like that. He looked at the two girls, noticing that they were identical in appearance. 'Twins?'

"So are ya?" Both girls asked, speaking at the same time.

"Yeah I guess."

Kurotsuchi had been watching this. He couldn't take much more of this crap.

"**Everyone get in your seats so I can start the damn class!"** He roared.

A minute passed and everyone finally returned to their respective seats.

"Today were going to discuss the different forms of kidoh and it's uses in a conflict."

----

"Jesus, is every class going to be boring like that?" Asked himself as he sat under a tree in the courtyard. It was lunchtime and being in the hurry that he was, he forgot to bring his lunch with him.

"Yeah."

"Pretty much."

Ichigo turned quickly when he heard voices he didn't recognize. Standing there was two guys he recognized from his class.

"Who are you?" He asked.

" I'm Yoji," the taller of the two said. He gestured to the man next to him. "And this is Kagi."

"Pleasure to meet ya Kurosaki." the one known as Kagi said.

"Same."

"Mind if we have a seat?"

"Sure."

The two of them sat down next to Ichigo. All three of them stared out over at the rest of the students for a minute before Yoji spoke.

"Are the rumors true?" He asked Ichigo.

"What kind of rumors?"

"Well we heard that your a hero from the war with the Arrancar."

"One could say that." Ichigo said with a tinge of smugness.

"Cool. Is it true your not a true shinigami?"

"Depends on how you view a 'true' shinigami."

"Well in these parts. A shinigami starts as a dead spirit that attains their powers while in Soul Society. We heard that you achieved your powers while still being alive."

"I guess you could say that, but I'm dead now."

"Wow" was all the two of them could say.

"You guys mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Is Kurotsuchi-sensei related to the captain?"

"Yup, Kurotsuchi-taicho is in fact sensei's older brother." Yoji told him.

"Yeah, both of them were trying for positions in the Gotei, but sensei decided to be a teacher for some reason. Not sure why he would though." Kagi said.

"Well if I had to teach our class, I'd probably go on a killing spree." Ichigo said, causing all three of them to laugh for a moment.

"Yeah, I feel for sensei sometimes. Our class consists mostly of the punks of the academy, but at least you can learn something. Looks like you got made some fans Kurosaki."

"Huh?"

Yoji gestured to the pack of the girls coming their way. Ichigo followed where he pointed and just gaped. At least twenty girls were running towards him. He noticed they were being led by the twins from earlier.

"Oh hell" He muttered causing his new friends to chuckle.

"I heard popularity can be a curse, wonder if it's true?" Kagi said with a slight snicker.

"Well Kurosaki, it's time that we ate our lunch so we must bid you adieu. One word of advice."

"What?"

"Akiko and her sister Akane don't back down from anything once they set their eyes on it." Yoji told him.

The two soon left, leaving Ichigo with a pack of fan girls.

"Kurosaki-kun!" They yelled in unison.

Ichigo wanted to die at that moment. Well he was already dead but that didn't matter. He needed to get away, but they had surrounded him.

"Kurosaki-kun, where's your lunch?" A girl with grey hair and black eyes asked.

"Forgot it" Was all Ichigo could say.

"Well I have some extra, would you care for some?" Another one asked. Soon everyone had their bento boxes out, trying to get Ichigo to eat.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll be ok." Ichigo said, trying to get the girls to leave him be. All he managed to do was make them cry.

"Kurosaki-kun doesn't want to eat any of our food." One of the twins said, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Fine I'll eat some your lunches." Ichigo instantly regretted saying this. He had twenty pairs of chopsticks stuck in his face. All of them with bits of food, some that he recognized and some he had no idea what they were.

"Try ours first Kurosaki-kun. My sister Akiko and I made it. It's really good." Akane said.

"Ok" Ichigo reached for the chopsticks only to have them be pulled out of his reach.

"Say ah Kurosaki-kun."

"You got to be kidding me."

"No, now say ah."

Ichigo wanted to refuse but his stomach growled in protest. This illicit ed in giggles from the girls. All Ichigo could do was oblige in the request. He opened his mouth and said "ah."

"Now was that so hard?" Akane said as she fed Ichigo something that resembled a sausage.

This was repeated by all the girls. In the end Ichigo must've eaten at least six lunches worth of food, with more waiting. Thankfully he was saved by chiming of bells, signaling the end of lunch. Class would be heaven compared to this.

----

Rukia was sitting in her room drawing in her notebook. She couldn't wait for Ichigo to return from school. She wanted to know how his day went. How his class went. She didn't have to wait long. She heard the door shut, signaling his return. Rukia quickly put away her stuff and bounded down the stairs. Ichigo just stood inside the doorway, looking haggard. She looked at him a moment before saying something.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"I need a bath."

"What?"

Ichigo didn't say anything. Instead he walked past her. He didn't have time to answer stupid questions. His day was hell. Anyone could of seen that just from looking at him.

"What's his problem?" Rukia said out loud.

"Looks like he had a long day." said a voice from behind her, scaring Rukia.

"Sakura, you got to quit doing that." Rukia said to the smiling girl.

"Ah, but I can't. You know I love messing with you Rukia." Byakuya wasn't home so there wasn't need for formalities.

"I'm going to get you one day, Sakura. You wait and see."

"Whatever, I'm going to go sneak a peek of Ichigo in the bath."

"What?!"

"Quiet," she hissed.

"Are you crazy?"

"What? Your telling me you lived with this guy for six months and never got the urge to peek?"

Rukia began to blush.

"Oh come on, has he ever tried to peek in on you?"

"No!"

"Spoil sport." Sakura pouted.

"Would you grow up."

"Your telling me wanting to see the naked body of the only young man in the house, is something a child would want?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know about you sometimes Rukia. I even wonder if you ever went through puberty."

"Are you saying I'm not a woman?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah, seeing naked boys is something a woman would want. I mean he's cute. He has sex appeal, also has a cute dimple on his right butt cheek." the servant girl said with a smirk.

"Wha..what?" Rukia stuttered out.

"Let's just say I've seen an eyeful every now and then. Now come on, but be quiet. We don't need to be discovered."

Rukia couldn't tell the girl anything different, this she knew. So she might as well go along with her little scheme. Sighing, she followed the girl upstairs. 'I don't know why I'm going along with this' she thought to herself.

"Now be quiet, Ichigo's starting to undress." the girl said as she opened the door a crack.

Hearing this she peeked through the door. Ichigo was indeed in a state of undress. He was pulling off his robes, groaning as he did.

"Soon the real show will start and you'll see what I was talking about."

"I can't believe we're doing this." Rukia said in a whisper.

Soon, Ichigo was down to his boxers. The two girls watched, both of them barely breathing. Neither sensed the presence coming from behind them. Both stopped breathing when Ichigo finally stripped that last piece of clothing. Rukia could feel the blood rush to her face.

"What are you two doing?" a voice said from behind them.

Sakura and Rukia jumped at the sound of the voice. Both knew who it would be before they turned.

"Um, nothing Byakuya-sama."Sakura said quickly as she quickly walked by him.

"Rukia?"

"We weren't doing nothing nii-sama." Rukia said, not daring to look her brother in the eye.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Byakuya said with smirk. "If I didn't know better I'd say you two were peeking on our guest. A matter most unbefitting for someone of our status Rukia."

Rukia started to blush so fiercely she thought she'd burst into flames. Byakuya looked at his sister once then stepped to the door. Giving the events happening inside a quick glance before he closed the door.

"Come with me Rukia. Let Ichigo finish his bath. After today it's the least you could do for him."

"Yes, nii-sama."

"Now go help Sakura with dinner."

"Yes, nii-sama." Rukia bowed and quickly made her way to join the girl.

Byakuya watched his sister walked down the stairs. He walked to his room, stopping to throw the bathroom door a quick glance. Sighing to himself, he turned back and went into his room. Not wanting to think about all that was going down in his home.

----

Ichigo felt a hundred percent better after his bath. He knew that dinner would be done soon, but he had time to listen to some music. After he finished dressing into his normal clothes, he walked over to the desk in his room. He flipped open his laptop to find that he needed to charge it's battery. Ichigo looked at his laptop for a moment thinking how he would charge it. 'Is there electricity here?' he thought to himself as he pulled out the power cord from his bag. After a minute of looking around the room, he found something that looked like a wall outlet. He didn't notice the closet door opening slightly.

"Guess they do."

"What's up Ichigo?" Kon asked.

"I didn't know they had electricity here? I mean theres no power lines leading to any of the houses."

"Yeah, all of them are underground." the plush animal stated.

"How do they make it?"

"Division twelve provides it. Don't know how they make it though. Clown face could probably tell you."

"I think I'll pass on that," Ichigo said as he plugged in his computer. He hoped that they used standard voltages. He didn't want his beloved computer to fry.

After a moment of waiting Ichigo turned on the computer. He was soon greeted with the boot up screen followed by the logo of the operating system.

"Looks like its going to work."

"Sweet!" the doll exclaimed as he walked next to Ichigo. "Hey Ichigo can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Kon."

The doll jumped into Ichigo's lap, gesturing for him to come closer.

"You have any porn saved on your pc?"

"What?"

"Oh c'mon. You must have something saved on there besides schoolwork and music."

"Can you keep a secret Kon?"

"Yes"

"You won't say a word to Rukia or anyone else in the house."

"You can trust me."

"Ok I have some stuff. Pictures mostly but I have some video files."

"Awesome" the doll exclaimed. "So where do you keep them?"

"Keep quiet and I'll show you." Ichigo hissed.

"K"

Kon watched as Ichigo clicked through various files. He made sure to remember all that Ichigo did. Soon Ichigo was at a single file, named in some random term in a language Kon couldn't read.

As Ichigo double clicked the file, they were greeted with with a plethora of pictures of naked women. They were interrupted by a voice coming from behind the door.

"Ichigo dinners done, come and eat."

"Ok, I'll be right there." Ichigo replied as he closed the laptop. He looked at Kon. "You can use my pc, but don't get caught. Who knows what Rukia would do to both of us if she found out I had these kind of things."

"I'll keep a secret. A secret between men." the doll said, smiling.

"Ok, make sure it stays charged for when I finish dinner."

"Will do." the doll said as he was quickly going through Ichigo's "art" collection.

Ichigo glanced at the doll once then left the room. He passed Sakura as he came down the stairs. She looked at him but turned away quickly. 'Was she blushing?' Ichigo asked himself as he made his way to the dining room. Rukia was sitting there with her brother. Neither of them had started, obviously waiting for Ichigo to join them. Ichigo quickly took his place next to Rukia and waited for Byakuya to start eating.

"Let's begin," the older man said simply.

All of them ate quietly. Rukia kept glancing at Ichigo and back to her food. 'What's up with her' Ichigo thought as he chewed his fish.

"So Ichigo."

Ichigo stopped chewing and just looked at Byakuya.

"How was your class today?" Byakuya asked as he popped a clump of rice in his mouth.

"It was ok I guess. They placed me in a kidoh class, said it was one of my shortcomings, can't argue with them though."

"That so? I'd have to agree with them. You can't win fights with brawn alone."

"Yeah"

"May I ask who the instructor is?"

"I think his name is Kurotsuchi. Heard he's related to the captain."

"I've heard of him. Not as eccentric as his brother, but strange nonetheless. Anything else happen today?"

Ichigo thought for a moment, a lot of things happened but it would probably not be wise to tell of the fan girls, especially with Rukia in the room. Finally he said something.

"Met two guys, they seem pretty cool."

"That's good. Kurosaki I'll give you a bit of advice. The ability to use kidoh comes from discipline, discipline of the mind as well as the body, but with training you should be able to handle it."

"That so?" Ichigo said.

"I could train him nii-sama." Rukia chimed in. "I'm adept with kidoh and started to train Ichigo in it's uses back in the real world."

"Good, I think that would work for the best. Don't you agree Ichigo?"

Ichigo was speechless. He remembered the 'training' he did with Rukia before. No one could dream of forgetting pain like that. Finally he just nodded.

"We can start tomorrow when you return Ichigo." Rukia told him.

"Yeah"

The three of them finished dinner in silence. Ichigo returned to his room after placing his dishes in the kitchen to be cleaned. When Ichigo opened he noticed that Kon was still at his pc, still going through his pictures. 'Well listening to some tunes just went out the window' Ichigo thought as he laid on his bed. 'God what's Rukia going to do to me' was all Ichigo could think as he drifted to sleep. If he knew what was truly in store for him, he would've had nightmares.

A/N: Going to try and update at least once a week, probably Sundays. Still need ideas people that and reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach

----

Dawn was just breaking when the alarm went of, signaling the start of the day for Tatsuki. She rolled over and hit the snooze button. Hoping to gain a few more minutes of sleep, but she realized that she had something to do today. Tatsuki grudgingly pulled herself out of bed, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. She yawned as she threw on some clothes and made her way downstairs.

After a light breakfast of eggs and toast. Tatsuki decided it was time to head out. She wasn't sure what Yoruichi had in store for her, but she didn't want to make the woman wait.

----

Ichigo woke up due to Kon's snoring. How something so small could produce so much noise was a mystery in itself, but Ichigo didn't have ponder this little mystery. He had to get ready for class, and he wanted to leave the house before either of the girls noticed that he was up. Ichigo quickly changed back into his shinigami uniform and picked up Zangetsu from it's resting place against the wall. 'Ready for another day of hell old man?' Ichigo asked in his mind, he heard a chuckle signifying Zangetsu's amusement at his current dilemma.

The house was silent except for snores coming from down the hallway. Ichigo stalked down the hallway before slipping down the stairs. He quickly made his way to the kitchen and made himself a bento for lunch. After he finished, he made his way for the door. He was hoping to beat the twins to class. 'Can't have a repeat of yesterday' Ichigo thought to himself. As he shut the door, he was startled by a voice coming from his right.

"Leaving a little early aren't we Ichigo?"

Ichigo turned, coming face to face with Byakuya.

"What are you doing up Byakuya?" the boy asked.

"A like to sit out here and watch the sun rise. Also need to have one of these," the man gestured to object in his hand, which turned out to be a cigarette.

"You smoke?"

"With my job wouldn't you?" the older man said with a chuckle.

"How come I never seen you smoking before?" Ichigo asked.

"Rukia doesn't like it, been on my back to quit actually. Said it's going to give me cancer," the man said as he took a drag.

"Can you get cancer?"

"Don't know, wouldn't think it's not a possibilty. Ukitake-taicho has been ill since I remember."

Ichigo glanced down at his watching, noting the time.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm going to be late if I don't haul ass."

The man nodded and Ichigo turned to leave. After walking a few steps he turned to give a farewell to the man who was taking care of him. Byakuya returned the gesture and lit a fresh cigarette. He turned to the rising sun and exhaled.

"He's turning into a good kid."

"That he is," a voice said from behind him.

"Rukia..."

"Nii-sama, what's that in your hand?"

Byakuya glanced at the cigarette, then back to Rukia. 'Ah shit' was all he could think at that moment, having called Rukia's wrath down upon him.

----

It was around nine when Tatsuki arrived at the Urahara's shop. Jinta and Ururu were outside sweeping yet again.

"Don't you guys do anything else around this heap?" Tatsuki asked.

"Shut your trap butchy, the boss with is waiting for you inside with Yoruichi-san inside."

"Call me that one more time and we'll see how well you can flap your lips with a broken jaw kid," Tatsuki retorted.

"Whatever, better not make the boss wait if you know what's good for ya."

"Hmph"

Tatsuki gave the boy a glare and walked into the store. Stopping to give old man Tessai a proper greeting, before walking into the back of the shop. She came upon Urahara and Yoruichi in the middle of the morning tea.

"Morning miss Arisawa," said the man with the hat.

"Didn't think you would show up," the older woman said, looking up over her tea.

"Don't think you can try and scare me lady. I can handle whatever you can dish out," Tatsuki said, trying to hold back the venom in her voice.

"Will see," Yoruichi said with a smirk. She finished her tea and stood up. "Come with me girl."

Tatsuki nodded and followed the woman. Together they walked into another room and stopped.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Wait and see."

The two stood there for a moment. The uncomfortable silence was broken when Urahara walked into the room.

"I take it you ladies need the room."

"What a brilliant deduction," Yoruichi said, not hiding the sarcasm in her voice.

The two women stared at the man for a moment then back at each other. Urahara watched them then rapped his cane twice on the floor. A second later a section of the floor moved, revealing a ladder.

"Follow me ladies, I just fixed up the joint so please take it easy."

"Shut up and move," Yoruichi said, but didn't give the man a chance. With a swift boot in his ass she sent the man falling down the ladder.

Tatsuki watched Urahara plummet down, thankfully he caught his hand on the ladder before he hit the bottom. She looked at the woman with her. "Is he OK?"

"Yeah, I've put him through worse."

Tatsuki just looked at the woman for a moment before making her way down the ladder. She made sure to keep an eye on Yoruichi, she didn't want to have a repeat of Urahara with herself.

After a few minutes of climbing down, they were soon at the bottom. Tatsuki looked up and realized they must have been a thousand feet below the shop.

"How did you make this place," she asked but didn't actually direct her question to anyone.

"Lots of time and help from Tessai," Urahara said as he dusted off his coat.

"Hmm." Tatsuki thought to herself for a moment.

"Ok kids, time for chat is over. Time for training."

"So what are we going to do?" Tatsuki asked the woman.

"Just a moment kiddo," Yoruichi said, while pulling on a glove with some symbol on it.

Tatsuki wasn't ready for what happened next. One moment she was standing, the next she was sprawled on the ground struggling to breathe. She looked at the woman, ready to break an arm at the least before she noticed something wrong. Next to Yoruichi was her lifeless body. A chain led from her body to her chest.

"The hell did you do you crazy bitch?" She screamed.

"Starting the training my dear. To do what you plan to do we need to train the soul."

"So am I like dead?" Tatsuki asked as she poked her body.

"Nope, think of this as an out of body experience," Urahara told her.

"Ok kid, it's time to run some laps," Yoruichi said with a smile.

----

Ichigo made it to class with time to spare. When he entered the room it was just him and Kurotsuchi-sensei. The teacher saw Ichigo and flashed him the signature Kurotsuchi grin.

"Coming early to class eh Ichigo?" he said with a smile, "I like that, shows you take this class seriously. Yamamoto wasn't joking when he said you showed promise."

"Thanks sir," was all Ichigo said as he made his way to his seat.

Soon other students were filing into the classroom. Kagi and Yoji gave him a smile as they took their seats. They were followed Akiko and her sister Akane, they gave him more than a smile , both of them blew kisses to Ichigo. Ichigo could feel himself becoming flushed. Soon it was time for class to begin.

"Ok students, today we're going to be working with the binding arts branch of kidoh. We are going to start with me explaining the different forms of binding arts then your going to break into groups of three and try them out on each other. I think it's safe to say this, when your with your group, be careful. I don't need any of my students killing each other with a simple exercise." Kurotsuchi told his class.

After a short explanation and a display of the arts it was time for the class to split into groups.

"Ok kids, it's time for you to get in groups of three and practice," the teacher said with a grin.

Quickly the class split into groups. Ichigo had hoped to group Kagi and Yoji but they seemed to already have a third partner, he looked all around the class hoping some of the other students still needed a partner, but to his dismay they were already set. That left him with one option, he had to group with the twins.

"Kurosaki-kun, you don't have a group? Why don't you join me and Akane?" Akiko asked him.

Ichigo was stuck between a rock and hard place. He had to do this exercise if he wanted to pass, but he also wanted to keep as much distance between him and the two girls as possible. He had no choice though, so with a sigh he joined them.

"Don't worry Kurosaki-kun, we'll be gentle," Akane purred into his ear.

Hearing this didn't ease his tension. He just wanted to pass this exercise and the class.

"Whatever, let's just do this," he muttered, "What do you guys want to try first?"

"We should start with the simple stuff first and work our ways up." Akiko said.

"Sounds like a plan."

Ichigo turned out to be the guinea pig for the two. They started with the easy arts. First a simple binding of the hands, which Ichigo broke pretty easy. Compared to the binding that Rukia placed on him when they first met, the things the twins applied were child's play. Soon Ichigo was tired of being the victim and wanted to try his own hand at this.

"Hey guys, think I can try this now," he asked as they had bound him to his chair.

"Ooh, Kurosaki-kun wants to bind us."

"He can bind me anytime, he can do more than that even, all he has to do is ask." Akane said with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Ichigo couldn't take much of this talk. He couldn't fathom how two girls could talk and think about lewd acts so freely. With a small burst of his spirit energy he broke the binding.

"You two ready?" he asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be Kurosaki-kun." the two said in unison.

Ichigo started with the level one arts, to feel out his capabilities. It turned out he was quite adept with them. Neither of the girls could break his bindings. He worked his way up to the sixtieth level arts, not failing with a single one. This attracted the attention of his teacher, who at the time was walking around the class and helping the other groups. After he finished with the last group he made his way over to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki, nice work. I never expected you to be so adept." Kurotsuchi told him.

"Thank you sir, I didn't think I could do this kind of stuff."

"All it takes is practice my boy, with enough practice anyone can do anything. How far have you gotten?"

"I just finished the 68th level of binding. How far should I go?"

"One more will be fine, it's getting close to lunch time anyway."

Ichigo nodded and looked at the girls, both were staring at him with intent. Ichigo closed his eyes and concentrated. He released the two from his previous binding and started on the next

"Binding art sixty nine!"

Coil of dark energy wound around the two, starting at the legs and working its way up. Soon their arms were bound, but it didn't stop. It continued across there chest then it lifted them up. The two were hanging in the air. Ichigo took a moment to be proud of his work. Then he noticed the arrangements of bindings. It was a scene out of every piece of S&M hentai he has ever read. They hung there with legs splayed and everything. 'My god, I would make a dominitrix proud' Ichigo thought to himself.

"Kurosaki-kun, didn't know you had this in you," Akane said as she hung there, a crimson blush across her face. Akiko's face matched her's.

Ichigo looked at the girls then to his teacher. Kurotsuchi just looked at Ichigo's work, trying his damnedest not to laugh, but quickly losing the battle. It started with a snicker then turned into a full blown guffaw. Kurotsuchi was about ready to fall to the floor, which in turn attracted the attention of the rest of the class. Some of the students were in awe of what he had done, while others were on the edge of hysterics. Even Kagi was laughing, he walked up to Ichigo, tears of mirth in his eyes.

"Never took you for a hentai Ichigo," he said as he patted him on the shoulder, "Now we know if the idea of a shinigami falls through, you still have options."

"I didn't want this, I thought it would be like the others."

"Ah don't worry about it," Yagi looked as if he was staring into the distance, "I mean now you can participate in the wonderful world of S&M."

This was the last straw for the teacher. Hearing this comment, he promptly dropped the floor, howling with laughter. The chime marking the break for class and time for lunch soon came. Ichigo was free to go. He was about to be leave when he heard a voice. He turned to the twins, still hanging, but a few students were pushing them, basically turning them into living pendulums.

"Um, Kurosaki-kun," Akane said as she was swinging, "Can you let us go? I'm, starting to feel a little sick."

"Hehe, sorry, I forgot about you two for a minute."

Seeing the fun was over the class filtered out so they could eat. Ichigo walked up to them. He formed a thought causing the bindings to loosen. A bit to quickly actually. Both girls dropped, but Ichigo grabbed them before they had a chance to hit the floor.

"You two ok?" he asked.

"Oh Kurosaki-kun," both moaned.

Ichigo looked at them for a moment before noticing he was holding something in each of his hands, something squishy to be exact. He looked down to his hands and almost died of from the shock. In each hand was the breasts of the two girls. He was feeling them up! He quickly released them then looked to the class, seeing if anyone had saw what he had done. Thankfully most of the class was gone already for lunch, Kagi and Yoji were still there. Both were waiting for him so they could eat together. Ichigo looked at them a second and noticed both were grinning like the cat from Alice in wonderland.

"Kurosaki, you animal."

"He's turning into a nympho. Soon no woman will be safe in all of Soul Society."

"Will you two shut the hell up!" Ichigo yelled, then turned to the twins, running his hands through his hair he apologized, "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to catch you two like that."

"It's ok Kurosaki-kun, we know you didn't mean harm, just be careful where your grabbing or at least ask next time." Akane said, smiling.

Ichigo blushed at the comment and continued to feel his hair. Both girls smiled and made their way out, leaving Ichigo with the two other men.

"You remember to bring your lunch this time?" Yoji asked him.

"Yeap."

"Good let's go eat, I'm starving and we're wasting time."

"Sounds good."

Ichigo walked over to his desk and grabbed his bento. He followed his friends to the courtyard.

----

Tatsuki was running laps. The chain hooked to her body shrinking and growing as she made each lap. She wasn't sure what lap she was on, having lost count after the hundredth one, but she was growing tired of running.

"Ok, that's enough kiddo."

Tatsuki turned to Yoruichi, thankful that she was getting a reprieve.

"So how do you feel kid?" the woman asked her as she picked up Tatuki's body.

"Like I ran two hundred laps, what the hell was the point of running laps!"

"You ran two hundred forty eight, and the point my dear. Is to make you feel at ease moving in your spirit form. Now come on it's time for lunch."

Tatsuki glared at her for a moment then walked over to her body. A moment later she was back in her body, and the exhaustion and hunger hit her. She felt like a pile of bricks, a pile of bricks that could consume a horse. Tatsuki followed the woman up the ladder and into the dining room. Before them laid a feast. How Urahara had time to make it was a mystery, but she needed to eat something. She sat quickly and grabbed a rice ball, not waiting for the others to join her before she took a bite. Soon she was joined by Urahara and Yoruichi.

"So how do you feel?" Yoruichi asked her as she sat down.

"Hungry," Tatsuki said as she took another bite out of her rice ball.

"Thats to be expected, any exertion in your spirit form effects your living one. Could you pass the rice balls miss Arisawa?"

Tatsuki handed the man the plate of rice balls then asked a question.

"So what was the real point of running?"

"We needed to get you used to moving in your spirit form."

"So are we going to be doing anything else today?

"More laps." Yoruichi said matter of factly.

All Tatsuki could do was sigh and bang her head against the table. 'This wasn't what I had in mine for training' she thought to herself.

----

Ichigo and the others went to the tree to eat lunch. Kagi and Yoji sat at the foot while Ichigo decided to take a seat in the tree. He told the two it was for the view, but they knew the real reason. Ichigo was hiding from the fan girls.

"So Ichigo how'd you like class today?" Yoji asked.

"It was OK, I couldn't do anything with kidoh on earth, but it looks like I'm pretty good with it," he said as he ate a piece of fish.

"I'd say, that last binding was a classic."

"Will you shut up about that!" Ichigo yelled as he threw his bento box at Yoji, narrowly missing his head.

Soon the bell marking the end of lunch rang. It was time to go back to class.

----

Rukia was bored, really bored. She was on leave for another month and there was nothing to do. Even the idea of torturing Kon didn't appeal to her. 'Ichigo better get his ass home early, we need to start his training' she thought to herself. No sooner her thought passed she recognized the familiar orange head of a certain shinigami walking by the gate.

"Ichigo!'" she yelled as she bounded towards the front gate.

"Sup short stuff?" he said, earning a flying elbow to the temple.

"What you do in school today?"

"Worked on some arts."

"What kind of arts?"

"Secret" he said as he walked into the house, placing his bag next to the door.

"Well if your not going to tell me I guess we can start your training."

"About that, think we could start tomorrow? I just want to relax tonight."

"Not a chance, your exam is in a few weeks and we need you ready."

Ichigo expected this kind of answer, but now he was prepared. He concentrated for a moment and muttered a few words. As expected the binding worked, leaving Rukia dangling in the middle of the room.

"The hell is this?!"

"You wanted to know what we did in class today, now you know."

"Get me down!'

"Nope, now if you don't mind me, I'm going for a little walk."

"You bastard, god help you when I get out of this," she told Ichigo as he walked toward the gate.

"Going to be awhile then, might as well enjoy myself," Ichigo said as he closed the gate. Leaving a very angry girl hanging, literally.

"Oh, I'm going to twist his balls off."

"What now?" a voice behind her asked.

"Sakura get me out of this!"

"Ooh a binding art," Sakura said as she expected it, "looks like the sixty ninth one, sorry Rukia can't do anything with this level of binding. Your going to have to wait for it wear off."

"You can't be serious."

"Well I got to finish the laundry, you mind hanging around for a bit?" Sakura said with a snicker.

"Do I look like I'm going to go anywhere?"

"Nope" Sakura said as she gave Rukia a little spin and went back to her chores.

All Rukia could do was spin and wait for the binding to wear off. Soon the front door opened.

"Nii-sama!"

Byakuya just stood there. Never in his life would he expect to come home to this.

"Get me down!" Rukia yelled.

Byakuya didn't answer, he just turned and walked back out. Leaving Rukia there. As the door closed Rukia could of sworn she heard a snort, followed by laughing. 'Ichigo's going to die, I'll gut him myself' was all Rukia could think.

----

Two people just finished work and were out walking.

"Hurry Taicho we're going to be late!"

"Shut up, the hell is the hurry about anyway?"

"Ladies night at the bar and all you can drink sake night. It's a sign from the gods! The planets have aligned!" Matsumoto said as she started to drag her captain.

"**KUROSAKI!" **a voiced screamed.

"I take it Kurosaki is back in Soul Society."

"That and he's in for a world of hurt from the sounds of it. That was Rukia."

Hitsugaya shuddered at the thought of what was in store for Ichigo. He noticed a blur coming at them with no signs of stopping. A moment later a collision could be heard.

"The hell are you doing you damn fool?" Hitsugaya said as he picked himself and dusted himself off, "Kurosaki?"

"Hide me! The binding wore off sooner than I had expected!" Ichigo said as he looked at who he ran into, "Matsumoto? Who the hell are you? Shorty?"

"That Hitsugaya-taicho and quit calling me short, I'm as tall as you now asshole."

Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes. Gone was the kid that he picked on non stop, replaced with a man as big as him with a ponytail to boot.

"**ICHIGO!"**

"Oh my god she's getting closer. Quick hide me," he pleaded

Matsumoto thought for a moment then looked down the street noting that Rukia was indeed coming this way.

"Ichigo the bushes."

"What?"

"Get in the damn bushes," she didn't give him a chance to respond before she picked him up and threw him in said bushes.

A moment later Rukia ran up to them, panting.

"Have you two seen Ichigo?"

"Well.." Hitsugaya began to say before he was interrupted by a elbow to the ribs.

"Ichigo's back? Tell him to stop by and say hi. We could have a drink," Matsumoto said as she gave her captain a glare that would've killed a lesser man.

"That bastard, he binds me and runs off. He knew we were to start his training tonight."

"Well he hasn't come this way. We'll be sure to tell him that your looking for him."

"You do that, now I must find the fool and give him his punishment for what he has done."

Rukia went back to her chase, leaving behind a stunned pair of shinigami.

"Is she gone?" the bush asked.

"You can come out now, the coast is clear."

"I don't know how I could thank you guys."

"Sake and lots of it."

"I'm not rich."

"A thank you would be enough for me," Hitsugaya said.

"Thanks. I better head back, she wouldn't think to look for me there."

Ichigo turned to head home but was stopped by Rangiku.

"I know another way you can repay me. Why don't you stop by my place later, we could have a real good time."

"I'll have to think about that," Ichigo said with a blush.

"Please do, I'll be waiting for you."

Matsumoto gave Ichigo a wink before she turned and headed to the bar. Leaving him alone with her captain.

"Hey shorty, can I ask you a question?"

"Quit calling me that and what the hell do you want?"

"Are all shinigami women horny as hell?"

"Most are pretty normal but then there are exceptions," Toshiro gestured to his vice-captain who was now skipping down the street.

"God help us men."

"God help us all."

----

Tatsuki had a plan. When she got back into her body she was going to kill Yoruichi. She would snap her neck. She spent the better part of the afternoon running more laps. Her train of thought was interrupted by Urahara.

"That's enough for today miss Arisawa."

"Bout goddamn time!" she yelled.

"There's no need to be mean to me, I'm but a humble shop owner."

Tatsuki walked over her body and entered it.

"A shop owner in league with the devil maybe, speaking of which, where is devil lady."

"Said she had to keep an appointment with someone."

----

Meanwhile in one of the most luxurious spas in town. Yoruichi was getting a massage. The masseuse had magic fingers and she loved a good massage, but even his fingers couldn't stop her ears from burning.

"Someone's speaking ill of me."

"Ma'am?"

"Nothing, now get back to work. This time go a little lower."

"Yes ma'am."

----

"Would you like to stay for dinner miss Arisawa?" Urahara asked the girl.

"No thanks, I need to get home and take a bath."

"So will you be coming tomorrow?"

"I guess I have to don't I?"

"I'll make the proper preparations then. Goodnight miss Arisawa."

"Night"

Tatsuki headed out of the store stopping to say goodbye to Tessai before she headed home. As she walked she thought about the day. How would running laps help her. She had to admit it was becoming easier to move in her spirit form, but she'd be damned to admit it was due to Yoruichi's training.

Soon she was back home. 'God I need a bath, I'm aching in places I never knew I had.' Before she headed upstairs for a bath she checked the answering machine. All that was on it was message from her mother reminding her to place the burnable trash out tomorrow. With a sigh she pulled herself up the stairs and headed to the bathroom. She started to run a bath. While the bath was filling she began to undress. As she pulled off her shirt she gave it a little sniff. It reeked of perspiration.

"God I smell like a football player."

Soon she was stripped to the buff. She walked to bath stopping to place a few capfuls of bubble bath into the water. Which quickly formed volumes of bubbles. After a minute it was time for her to get in. The hot water started to soothe her body right away. The aches started to fade and for once she was feeling relaxed. As she reached for her rubber ducky, she thought of Ichigo.

"Wonder what he's doing right now in Soul Society?"

----

At the same Tatsuki was taking bath Ichigo was in pain, a lot of pain. Rukia finally got a hold of him when she returned home. Now she had him doing push ups over lit candles. Rukia herself was sitting on Ichigo doodling like nothing was wrong.

"How many more of these damn things do I need to do? I'm starting to smell burning pork."

"Till I till you to stop. After earlier you should be thankful that this is going to be all the punishment I'm going to mete out." Rukia said as she continued to draw.

All Ichigo could do was sigh and continue with the push ups. 'If this punishment, the hell does she have planned for training?'

----

Zaraki walked into the 4th division's headquarters, nodding to the personnel as he went. He told everyone that he came for a checkup but most knew his real reason. No one has a check up every Saturday morning. Zaraki sighed at this thought. He didn't want word that he had a relationship with Unohana, but he doubt it could stay a secret for long. As Zaraki walked up to her office, he tried to keep his scowl but was finding it hard to do. He loved these visits. Unohana was always good to him, and she could brew a great pot of tea. Something Yachiru hasn't been able to pull off, his tea would be overly sweet. The results of her deciding that half a pound of sugar per pot makes it that much better. Zaraki lost the be battle of the face and now was grinning wide when he knocked on the door. A moment later it was opened.

"Kenpachi, punctual as always," Unohana said with a smile.

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Unohana leaned out her door, checking to see if the coast was clear before she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"May I come in?"

"Of course, the tea will be ready soon.

"Good," Zaraki said as he walked towards her porch. He loved to drink tea under the morning sun.

Not long after Unohana joined him with the tea. She looked out the road that crossed in front of the headquarters as she poured the tea.

"Kurosaki's test is fast approaching. Think he will pass?" she asked as he handed him a cup of tea.

"Thank you," Zaraki said as he took the glass, "Ichigo will pass. If there's one thing that kid can't do, it's fail.

"I agree. I heard Yamamoto was going to oversee it himself."

"Hell I'm going to spectate myself. I really want to see how he's changed. Ichigo has gotten stronger, that I can't deny, but how strong is still a mystery." Zaraki said as he sipped his tea. Loving the pleasant taste of it.

"Think he will make captain?... What in the world is that?" Unohana was staring at the road.

"Huh?" Zaraki didn't get an answer so he looked to where Unohana was staring.

Further down the road a dust plume rose. After another minute the source of the plume could be seen. It was Ichigo running, on his back was Rukia. Riding him like a horse. In her hand she had a riding crop, that she was making full use of.

"That poor boy." was all Unohana could say. Zaraki just stared, even feeling a bit of pity for Ichigo himself.

Soon the two were in earshot of the captains.

"Will you quit it with the goddamn whipping. My ass is starting to hurt!" Ichigo yelled at his rider.

"Shut up and keep running, you still have another ten miles to run then it's more training." Rukia said as she whipped Ichigo again.

"You better be joking you little shit. You want to do more training after this?!"

Rukia didn't answer but kept with the whipping. Soon the two were past the 4th division headquarters.

"She's going to kill Ichigo before he has a chance to take his test." Zaraki said as he finished his tea.

"Where did she get a riding crop?" Unohana asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

----

A/N: Sorry for the wait. College has been kicking my ass but at least this my last week before summer break so I'll try to update more often. I still need suggestions so please review. If any of you want to get a hold of me other than the reviews, my msn address is **y(period)kaikohotmail(period)com. **If ya really like the story send me smokes. I need nicotine to fuel my writing process. I like Blackstone Cherry little cigars. What's coming up in the next chapter: Ichigo takes his exam. Tatsuki's training finishes, Matsumoto gets wasted, hilarity ensues. Want more? Well your going to have to read the next chapter.

A/N part duex: Why can't I link? ; ;


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: If smoking is so bad why does it make me feel so good?

----

A/N: The story is going to fast forward about four weeks. What happened in those four weeks will be brought up by the characters through the story. Honestly, I just didn't feel like boring you guys with more schooling and training.

----

Well it was time. Ichigo had to go through hell and back these past few weeks, but in the end he came out ahead. He learned how to make use of his kidoh skills, he could heal, and he could bind. He could even make things go boom. What he wasn't sure of was Yamamoto had in store for him. Ichigo learned that the old man was going to oversee his exam firsthand, and this caused him worry. He knew he could take whatever the old bastard threw at him, but he never saw him in action. He never participated in the war with the Arrancar, he stayed in Soul Society.

"God tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day," Ichigo told the empty room. Kon was out on one of his 'walks' meaning he was out harassing the local girls.

Ichigo let out a sigh and slumped in his chair. He wasn't ready for this shit. He needed to let his mind calm down; he needed to take a bath. With a grunt he picked up out of the chair and made his way to the bathroom. When he reached it, he made sure to look and see if Sakura was around. He had caught her peeking once and was sure she would try again. Seeing that the coast was clear, Ichigo let his mind get at ease. He quickly disrobed and got the bath water running. As the tub filled he looked into the mirror. The face that stared back at him was one he didn't recognize. Gone was the scowl that he wore for years, replaced with a look of hard determination. Ichigo was actually impressed with his image.

"Looks like the boy finally turned into a man."

Soon the bath was ready. As Ichigo slid into the soothing water, a thought came to him. If he was to be truly prepared, he would need to talk to with a certain pair. Ichigo relaxed and laid farther back in the bath, the water reaching up to his chin. As he laid there he let himself go. Soon he could feel himself entering the border between the real world and the inner world of his mind. A moment later he was fully immersed in his inner world.

As far as Ichigo could see the place never changed. All he could see was buildings and the sky above was motionless. Ichigo turned, looking for the sources of his power but they could not be found.

"Where the hell could those two be?" he asked himself.

When no answer came he made up his mind to look for them. Ichigo started jumping from building to building. Eventually he came upon the two in the middle of all things, a game of checkers.

"What the hell are you two doing? I've been looking all over for you."

"We're in the middle of something king. Now since you're not in the middle of a fight and have no need for either of us, why don't you buzz off."

'Sarcastic bastard as ever' Ichigo thought.

"We need to talk."

Neither of the two gave him any notice. Zangetsu was studying the pieces and the hollow was off staring in the distance. All Ichigo could do would was just stare.

"King me" Zangetsu said as he placed his piece.

"Will you two at least pay attention to me?"

"Jesus, what?!"

"My test is tomorrow, I'm going to need the help of both of you."

"Was that all you came for?" Zangetsu asked as he looked up from the game.

"Yeah"

"You already know the answer then. Of course I'll help you in any way possible. I'm sure he..." Zangetsu gestured to the hollow, "will also."

"Whatever, I just want to get back to the game. While you're here king, I got a request."

"What?"

"Think up some girls man. I'm blue balling over here terrible and I'm sure Zangetsu shares my views."

Ichigo couldn't believe what he just heard. One of his inner beings just asked for him to become a spirit pimp.

"I'll work on that," Ichigo said, still not believing the request.

"Good, yo Zangetsu, it's your move."

Ichigo left the two to their game and transitioned back into the real world. He awoke still in the tub. The hot water cooled down to lukewarm in the time he was gone, and he wasn't alone. He looked up to find Sakura standing over him smiling.

"The hell are you doing in here?!" he yelled as he quickly covered himself.

"You were in here for a long time Kurosaki-kun. I was worried you had fainted from the heat. Turns out you fell asleep. Be it that I get yelled at for being conscious of someone's well being."

Ichigo looked at her for a moment, feeling the anger withdraw.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you. You just caught me in a very awkward situation. I apologize for yelling at you Sakura-chan. Now could I get a little privacy? I need to dry off."

"Sure thing Kurosaki-kun," Sakura said as she turned and left the bathroom humming a little tune.

Ichigo quickly got out of the tub and dried off. He quickly put on his clothes and stopped at the mirror. Once again, looking at his face. Now he had a look of relief. As he left the bathroom he found Sakura to be waiting outside.

"You ready for tomorrow Ichigo?" She asked.

"As I'll ever be," Ichigo flashed the girl a smile and made his way to his room, stopping at the door he looked at Sakura, "Oh and one more thing Sakura."

"Yes?"

"You got to quit it with the peeping. That not something a cute girl like yourself should be doing."

All Sakura could do was blush and quickly walk away. Leaving Ichigo alone in the hallway. Ichigo opened the door to his room and flopped onto his bed. Soon he was fast asleep.

----

Tatsuki had finished another day of training at Urahara's. Today she had to spar with Ururu once again. How a little girl could pack such a punch was a mystery to Tatsuki, but she didn't dwell on it. 'I think it's time to work on who I view with sympathy' Tatsuki thought to herself as she walked home. She began to go over the happenings of the day in her head. Other than her match with the fearsome little girl, Yoruichi said something about trying a new thing tomorrow. What she had in mind, Tatsuki didn't know but hopefully it would be a nice change from the crap they've been doing over the past few weeks.

----

Ichigo was in the middle of one of the best dreams he had since coming to Soul Society, and didn't hear the knocks at his door. Soon he was woken by someone shaking him. He woke to find Sakura looking down at him.

"Jesus, what did I say earlier?" he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"I didn't come here to peek idiot; I'm here because you have a visitor."

"Who?" Ichigo asked, expecting someone like Hitsugaya or worse Matsumoto, here to make good on that thing she asked about.

"Some guy looks a little strange. I think his name was Kurotsuchi."

'Sensei?' Ichigo thought to himself. Why would he be here? Was there something wrong? Did he flunk the class?

"I don't think it would be wise to make him wait, Kurosaki-kun." Sakura said, sensing the unease in Ichigo.

"I guess you're right."

Ichigo took a moment to make sure he was presentable before heading downstairs. Near the door was the man who he referred to a sensei for the past five weeks.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything Ichigo?"

"What do you mean sir?" Ichigo had no idea what he could be referring to.

"You, a cute girl, alone in the house as far as I can see."

Ichigo got what he was insinuating. 'That settles it, everyone in Soul Society are pervs' Ichigo thought to himself.

"Excuse me sir. Is there any reason that you would come to visit me?" Ichigo asked, bring the topic back to the question at hand.

"Just wanted to check up on my favorite student."

"Sir?"

"Ichigo let me tell you something. I have been teaching for almost a hundred years, and all that time I had never had a student like you. You came to class ready to learn whatever I had to teach. You never let anything sway you from your goal, even the twins."

"Um, thank you sir," Ichigo was starting to feel embarrassed by the praise he was receiving.

"Let's take a walk Ichigo; I heard Byakuya has a garden that's the envy of all Soul Society."

"I guess it's ok if you like flowers or things like that."

"I don't care for them much myself, but this place gives me a bad vibe," Kurotsuchi said as he shuddered a little bit.

"Well the garden is out back, both of us could use a bit of fresh air."

Kurotsuchi nodded and followed Ichigo through the house to the garden. There, they both stopped and looked at what lay before them. The garden itself was one of Japanese style with one exception; there were a lot of flowers. They seemed to poke out of everywhere.

"Sensei, may I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you come here tonight? I mean I can understand checking up on me due to my test tomorrow, but that can't be everything can it?"

Kurotsuchi looked at Ichigo for a moment before answering him.

"Ichigo," he paused to give a sigh, "I came here because I heard about how they were going to test you tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"As you know, normally to become a shinigami, students need to go through a test."

"Of course."

"Usually this consists of a written exam, with maybe a small demonstration of their kidoh abilities."

"Isn't that what I have to do tomorrow?" Ichigo asked.

"I hate to say it but no."

"So what do I have to do?"

"You're going to have a physical test."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad."

"You have to spar against Yamamoto-taicho."

Ichigo's face drained of color. Suddenly his stomach felt the need to expel its contents.

"Wha-what?"

"Yamamoto arrived at my office earlier today. Said he wanted to see your improvement first hand."

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

Ichigo was speechless. He had expected something different but nothing like this.

"Well after delivering this tidbit of bad news, I think it's time I head back home," Kurotsuchi said as he turned and headed to the door that lead to the inside of the house. Leaving Ichigo to contemplate what he has heard.

Ichigo stood there for a few minutes. His brain working in overtime trying to take in all this information. Once it got sorted out, Ichigo could move. Heaving a sigh, he walked back towards the house. Stopping at the stairs of the porch, he turned and plopped down. After a moment he noticed something out of place. There was a strange scent in the air. After a moment he placed it. It was tobacco. Looking around to see where Byakuya could have been hiding he noticed a foot dangling off of the roof above him. Ichigo stepped up from the porch and looked up.

"Rukia's home?" Ichigo asked the man who had sheltered him for the past month.

"Yeap," Byakuya said coolly as he took another drag of his cigarette.

"You know she's going to hurt you if she catches you smoking."

"That, my dear boy, is why I'm up here."

"How long have you been here?"

"Awhile"

"I guess you heard then."

"I heard everything that Kurotsuchi-sensei said. Wouldn't say that it surprised me though. You were a special case Kurosaki, always has been one. If Yamamoto let you take the regular shinigami test, you would have passed it with ease."

"I guess," Ichigo interrupted.

"But your ability wouldn't have been tested."

"You think that's what the old man is after?" Ichigo asked.

"Well everyone has heard of your war exploits, I personally think the old man wants to see what you're truly capable of."

"That doesn't exactly put me at ease ya know," Ichigo said with a sigh.

"Only giving the details."

"Whatever, it's getting late. I should probably head to bed."

"Night Ichigo."

----

Tatsuki woke, much to her displeasure. She was in the middle of a pleasant dream. Ichigo had just pulled out the honey and was giving her the dirty details of what he was going to do with it.

"Damn it, just when it was getting good," Tatsuki muttered as she rubbed her eyes.

Looking over at her clock, she noticed it was half past five. She had woken up thirty minutes before her alarm would be going off.

"Must be a sign."

With a sigh, she woke up. After a minute of stretching, causing all sorts of pops to emit from her body as she walked downstairs. After a light breakfast she decided to be on her way. Urahara told today was going to be different, but she expected something else. The way he talked something big was going to happen today.

----

Ichigo on the other hand was not an early riser. Usually it took Sakura or Rukia prodding him for a few minutes before he was awake enough to function. Today was no exception. Sakura stood over Ichigo's sleeping form, musing about how she was going to wake Ichigo today. Usually she would poke at his face till he woke, but she wanted to try something different. Bending down, she reached for the blanket that was covering Ichigo. With a yank she had the blanket off of him. Yet, Ichigo didn't wake. Yes he moved, but that was only to itch his stomach before he went back to snoring. All Sakura could do was huff, and think of something else. It was then she noticed something about Ichigo. Something that happens to all males of the human race when it's morning.

"Would ya look at that," Sakura said with a giggle.

She stared at it for a minute. Naughty thoughts going through her mind, but reason quickly put them to rest. Biting her lip, she reached down... and gave it a flick. Now this had the effect that she hoping for.

"Holy hell!" Ichigo bellowed as he flew up, knocking Sakura down.

"Well, I see that you're up. You should hurry and get dressed Kurosaki-kun. Don't want you to be late for your test," Sakura said as she scooted out of the room.

----

Ichigo made it to the courtyard without a minute to spare. After the rude wakeup call he got from Sakura, his mind was a mess. It took him longer to get dressed, to the point he had to skip breakfast. Something he hated doing. When he had arrived, he secretly hoped there would be few people here, hopefully just him and Yamamoto, but to his dismay there was quite a large crowd gathering with more people arriving by the minute. Almost everyone from his class was there along with his teacher. All of the captains and their subordinates were here as well. Ichigo stood there for a moment, trying to come to terms with what was about to go down. This didn't last long as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Ichigo turned to see Zaraki standing there, grinning like a shark.

"It's time for your big day eh, Ichigo?" the large man said.

"Wish I still had more time honestly," Ichigo answered.

"Don't worry about it. Just remember to go for the legs."

"Huh?"

It was too late; Zaraki was walking back to the group, leaving Ichigo standing there. After a few minutes the group separated, revealing Yamamoto.

"You ready boy?"

"If I said no, would you let me leave?" Ichigo asked, deciding to press his luck a little bit.

"Not a chance."

"So what do I have to do?" Ichigo asked.

"All you have to do is cut me, if you can manage that, you pass," the old man said with a smirk.

"Sounds simple enough."

"You sound like this is going to be an easy task, Ichigo. I'll take that as a sign your ready to start."

Ichigo almost didn't move away from the blast in time. As he jumped back, he noticed that Yamamoto had pulled his gi off his shoulders. Revealing a ripped form no old man should have.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Ichigo asked himself as he braced for the next attack.

He didn't have to wait long. The old man was soon on the offensive again. This time he slashed at Ichigo's midsection. As he completed the motion, Ichigo could've sworn he heard the old man chuckling, making him angrier. Now it was time for Ichigo to push on with the attacks. He slashed at Yamamoto's leg, then his right arm. Each time the only thing the blade cut was the air. He realized he would need some sort of strategy if he was going to manage to cut him. It was time for him to use some of the crap he learned in class.

Pausing for a moment, he thought of something. Something that he hoped would slow the old man enough for him to make successful blow. With a bit of concentration, he unleashed the binding kidoh. While it did stop the old man, it didn't last as long as Ichigo would have liked. With a twitch of his muscles, Yamamoto broke the binding.

"That the best you can do boy? Thought you were going to take this serious. If you keep this up I might have to kill you."

Not exactly the encouragement Ichigo was looking for. He did the most sensible thing that came to his mind, he ran. While he wasn't squealing like girl, he sure as hell wasn't acting like a man. As he ran, he looked back and shot off random destructive kidohs at Yamamoto. Most of these didn't hit the mark, and the ones that did were just shaken off. He needed to do something. Stopping, he turned to Yamamoto. With a look of calmness on his face, Ichigo raised his blade. Feeling the surge of power rising in his body, he screamed.

"**Bankai!"**

Ichigo could feel his gi change, his blade became lighter. He felt like he was on top of the world. The change in reiatsu caused the old man to pause his attacks. He had heard of stories of Ichigo's bankai. It wasn't a typical bankai, as it wasn't something huge. It was much more subdued. Now he had a chance to see it firsthand. He didn't have much chance though. Ichigo was soon on the offensive.

The old man barely had enough time to raise his sword to block the attack. He could barely see Ichigo, he seemed to phase in and out of reality. From behind, Yamamoto could feel Ichigo approaching him. Turning around, he barely dodged in time. Yet Ichigo wouldn't let up on his attacks. Slashing wildly he pushed on with his attack.

"I think it's time to get serious," the old man muttered.

Hearing this Ichigo stopped his attacks. 'The old man wasn't fighting serious. My god he's like Zaraki. What the hell am I fighting against?'

Stopping for a moment, Yamamoto began to channel his power. Around him waves of heat could be seen in the air. Anyone in the immediate area would have felt the temperature rise a few degrees. Soon actual flames could be seen surrounding him. With a sudden burst of power, Yamamoto was ready to fight serious. Once again he was on the offensive. Even Ichigo's speed was no match for Yamamoto. He could go blow to blow with the boy without breaking a sweat.

"Ichigo, you're starting to slow down. Don't tell me you're starting to tire?"

"Slowing down? You just got faster," Ichigo said, sweat beading down his face.

"Tell me Ichigo, I have heard of your situation. Now if you want to beat me, you better be ready to use everything you have."

Ichigo was afraid it would come down to this. He didn't want to use his trump card if he didn't have to. Bracing himself for what would come next. He reached across his face. Feeling the blackness enter his soul, he drew his hand across his face, feeling the bone gather. Once the mask was on, he looked at the old man. His face was a mixture of awe and fear.

"Well you wanted to see it. Now are you ready for what's coming old man?" Ichigo said, his hollow sounding voice adding more to the point of his words.

"Let's see what you can do?"

Ichigo flash stepped, faster than the old man could see. Suddenly he could feel cold metal pressed against his neck.

"Got ya."

Yamamoto tried to move but to it was too late. He could feel blood starting to trickle down his neck.

"I think that means I passed," Ichigo says with a hint of amusement.

"I'd say so," Yamamoto said as he grinned widely

"Awesome."

After saying this, Ichigo promptly fainted. He didn't see the crowd running to him, all cheering his name.

----

Tatsuki was once again in the training room under Urahara's shop. Standing next to her was her mentor and trainer, Yoruichi. Who at the moment had a look of seriousness on her face.

"So what are we going to do today, boss?" Tatsuki asked.

"Meditation"

"What? No sparring, no laps, no nothing?"

"This is the last part of your training. If you can finish this, you can finally go to Ichigo."

Hearing this, Tatsuki began to blush. She missed Ichigo badly.

"So what do I have to do?"

"Sit down, and clear your mind. The next step will show itself to you when you are ready."

Tatsuki listened to what the older woman told her. Nodding, she sat down. After a moment, she began to clear her mind. Another minute later, her mind was a blank. She began to breathe slower.

"Tatsuki" a voice from within her mind called her.

"Who's there?"

"Someone who has been here for awhile, I was waiting for you to take notice of me."

"Who are you?" she asked again.

"You'll see"

Tatsuki was suddenly thrust into a place she didn't know. Surrounding her for miles was grassland. A warm breeze caressed her face. She looked up, noting something peculiar about the sky. While there was wind, the clouds seemed to stay in place. Reaching down, she felt the blades of grass.

"Tatsuki"

Turning suddenly at the sound of her name she faced the source of the voice in her mind. Standing before her was a large animal, a rhino to be exact.

"Tatsuki" it said once more.

Upon closer inspection, she noted something strange about the animal. While it looked like a normal black rhino its skin appeared to be made of a sort metal.

"What are you?" she asked.

"An ally"

"Why am I here?"

"You called for me."

"I don't remember ever asking for a talking rhino."

"Listen kid, you called to me and I'm here" the beast said, anger rising in its voice.

"Whatever, you have a name or do I just call you rhino?"

"Tetsusai"

"Ok Tetsusai, where am I?" she asked.

"We're in your inner world."

"You're saying my mind is basically grassland?"

"That's correct"

"So what do I do now?"

"Simple, channel your spirit energy and call for me. If you're truly prepared. The next transformation will happen."

Tatsuki looked at Tetsusai for a moment. She had some training with spirit energy, but she had no idea what Tetsusai expected from her. Breaking off her thoughts she did what she was told. Turning away from the animal, she began to channel her power.

----

Ichigo ached all over when he woke up. He had no idea how long he has been out, but from the look of his surroundings, he must've been in the headquarters for the 4th division. He also noted he was alone. With a grunt, he lifted himself up. Memories of his fight with Yamamoto were still fresh in his mind. He still couldn't believe that he won, much less survived.

"I guess I passed," Ichigo told himself with a chuckle.

"Look like you're finally awake."

Ichigo looked around for a second trying to place the voice. It was then he noticed Zaraki poking his head through the doorway. Seeing that Ichigo was awake, Zaraki entered the room.

"The old man sent me to tell you that you passed the exam."

"He told me that before I passed out," Ichigo said interrupting Zaraki.

"He also told me to tell you that you are granted the rank of Captain," Zaraki said with a grin.

Ichigo couldn't believe what he heard. While he knew he was stronger than most of the other captains, he thought they would just make him a basic shinigami, especially with the situation of his birth and the state of his spiritual power.

Zaraki looked at Ichigo with a bit of amusement. The boy was silent, obviously pondering the news the older man brought to him. Deciding to break the boy out of his little world, he gave him a little bit of information.

"You have some people outside waiting for ya."

"Hmm?"

Zaraki didn't have a chance to explain further before the door burst open. First of the arrivals were the twins. Seeing that Ichigo was awake, they made a bee line for his bed. Jumping on him and hugging him almost to the point of death. Following them was Rukia along with her brother, Sakura behind them. Rukia took a moment to assess Ichigo's situation. First she looked at the girls that were holding on to Ichigo, then to Ichigo. It was then she shot Ichigo a stare that would have shattered steel.

"Ichigo, who are those girls?" Rukia asked, trying to hold back the urge of giving him a flying elbow to temple.

"Um," he looked down to the girls who seemed to be quite comfortable holding him, "Classmates?"

Rukia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming at Ichigo. Ichigo was going to be in for a world of hurt when she had a chance to be alone with him. Her thoughts of inflicting pain and torture were interrupted with the sound of a door closing though. Turning, she saw Matsumoto standing there alone with her captain.

"Ichigo did ya hear the news?!" the busty woman squealed out.

"I made captain," Ichigo said, showing that he had already heard the news.

"You know what means don't you?"

"No"

"It means we need to throw you a party!"

Ichigo just stared at the woman, and then he threw a Hitsugaya a glance. The captain was standing there rubbing his temples.

"Matsumoto I don't have my own place yet. I'm currently staying with Byakuya."

Hearing this, the girl began to pout. Ichigo hated to see a girl cry and Matsumoto was no different from any other girl.

"I don't see why we couldn't hold the celebration at my home, Ichigo?" Byakuya remarked, "I mean you making captain are reason for celebration, is it not?"

Hearing this, Matsumoto stopped sniffling, a look of pure glee coming to her face, "I better go hit up a bar and bring the finest sake that Soul Society. Ichigo deserves the best now, doesn't he?"

Ichigo could just stare at the woman as she left the room. After a second he directed his gaze to Byakuya.

"Why are you letting her throw a party for me, and why are we having it at your home?" Ichigo asked the older man.

"We need to properly celebrate your promotion, and it has been boring lately, so I thought 'what the hell'."

All Ichigo could do was sigh, he had heard stories of a drunken Matsumoto but he never wanted to witness it personally. Thankfully the arrival of the 4th division captain gave him something to take his mind off the recent situation.

"Kurosaki-kun, I need to give you an examination to see if you're in condition to leave. If everything is order you should be able to leave this evening."

Ichigo nodded to the woman.

"I need you to disrobe so I can check you over," Unohana turned to the others in the room, "I think it would be best if you left the room while I give the exam."

Byakuya nodded, reaching to grasp Rukia and Sakura to lead them out of the room. Pausing for a moment he turned and did the one thing no one would have expected, he winked at Ichigo. After that he left the room, followed by Hitsugaya.

"That means you two as well," Unohana told the twins, who were still holding onto Ichigo.

"Do we have to?" Akane pleaded, only to be shot down by the captain.

Pouting, the two let go of Ichigo and made their way out of the room. Leaving Ichigo alone with the captain.

"Shall we begin?"

Ichigo nods and begins to undo his gi, letting the clothes drop to the floor. Thankfully the exam only took a couple minutes, but something gave Ichigo an uneasy feeling. While he had been one who could be called modest, he didn't mind that he was naked, this was only a physical exam after all. Trying to place where the feeling was coming from, he began to look around the room. The source though wasn't known till he looked at the door. It was open a crack, and he could see three sets of eyes looking in on him. One he recognized as Sakura, but he couldn't place the other two. Then it hit him, the twins were peeking in on him.

"What are you three doing?"

"Eep!"

Ichigo could hear them running down the hall, they were talking about him but he only heard a piece of the conversation, something along the lines of "did you see it?"

"Looks like nothing's out of place Ichigo," Unohana tells the boy as she gives him a light pinch on the bum, "You can leave as soon as your dressed kiddo. Word of advice though, Matsumoto gets grabby when she's drunk."

All this did was cause Ichigo to audibly gulp as he pulled on his clothes.

"You sure I have to go home right away?" Ichigo asked, hoping the woman would get was he was clueing her to, but she didn't.

"You're fit as a fiddle, no reason for you to stay here."

"Bah"

----

The party was a strange one. Ichigo had hoped it would have been a small celebration but it escalated from the beginning. At first, it was Ichigo, Rukia, and the rest of the crew. Then the rest of the captains decided to make an appearance with their subordinates, along with a few more cases of sake. After about an hour everyone was thoroughly plastered, with Ikkaku dancing on the roof with fans while only wearing a loincloth. Now that was an image that would forever be etched into Ichigo's memory.

After a few more hours, everything seemed to calm down. Most of the people left when the booze ran out, while the rest decided to sleep where they fell. Ichigo had a buzz going but other than that, seemed to function normally. Stepping gingerly over Renji, he went to linen closet and pulled out some blankets. Stepping back into the room, he began the work of covering up the sleeping people. Finding he was short one blanket, he leaned down and picked Rukia up off the floor and made his way to her room. Once there, he placed the girl on her bed and covered her up.

Making his way to his room, Ichigo stripped down to his underwear and flopped down onto his bed. It was then the alcohol hit him. Feeling the edge of sleep coming to him he wrapped himself into his blanket. Soon he was fast asleep, oblivious to the light snoring that was coming from next to him.

----

The sun's rays beamed through the window, forcing Ichigo to stir from his slumber. With a grunt Ichigo attempted to rollover but a weight on his right arm prevented. Ichigo tried once again but to no avail. Forcing himself to open an eye he noticed something draped over the chair next to his bed, a pink scarf to be exact.

"That looks familiar, but I can't place it," Ichigo murmured.

He became aware of the snoring next to him. Turning his head he saw the source of his predicament. There, lying next to him was Matsumoto. To his horror, she began to stir.

"Morning lover," the woman purred as she stroked his cheek.

----

A/N: Well I finally updated this sucker. I apologize for the long wait but had a serious case of writers block. As always read and review.


End file.
